Any product can turn out to be defective, even prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Although many Tennessee residents rely on medication to remain healthy, consuming defective drugs can be like taking a step backwards on the road to good health. In fact, some defective drugs can cause serious illness or death.
Many factors can make a drug defective or dangerous. When a health care provider tells you to take a certain medication, you probably assume the medicine is safe. In most cases, you would be correct in your assumption. However, no system is 100 percent infallible, which means that any drug you consume could turn out to be unsafe or defective. This includes drugs prescribed by a doctor as well as over-the-counter products your doctor may recommend.
As far as what makes drugs defective, there are three main categories. These categories are:
- Defective design: If a drug was designed in a way that could harm consumers even though a safer design option existed, the drug could be defective.
- Defective marketing: If a drug is presented to consumers without proper instructions or warnings about its foreseeable risks, it might be defective.
- Defective manufacturing: If the marketing and design of a drug is adequate, but a flaw exists in its manufacture, it may be dangerous and/or defective.
Design, marketing and manufacturing mistakes that result in defective drugs are unfortunate. However, the fact that any injury suffered was unintentional does not mean those responsible do not have to answer for the harm a victim suffers. Fortunately, the law offers these wronged parties several options to secure a satisfactory legal remedy.
Source: FindLaw, “What Is an Unavoidably Unsafe Product?,” accessed Jan. 19, 2018
