Drug & Pharmaceutical Litigation
Types of Pharmaceutical Litigation
Pharmaceutical litigation encompasses two forms of personal injury type claims.
- Where pharmaceutical medical negligence may be involved based on the medical practitioner's act or omission in prescribing the drug.
- Where the drug is defective or where warnings are insufficient to warn the patient of the risks associated with the drug. In the latter circumstance this type claim is a product liability claim.
Many people, young and old, have suffered adverse reactions to both prescription and over the counter drugs, which they were not warned about, faulty or insufficient research conducted and/or misinformation on the manufactures part due to poor advertising.
Types of Pharmaceutical Litigation Claims
Recent examples of blockbuster drugs with catastrophic effects are:
- Vioxx (pain relieving agent for arthritis)
- Celebrex (pain relieving agent for arthritis)
- Aulin/Nimesulide (pain relieving agent)
- Fosamax (medicine for osteoporosis)
Reporting Adverse Reactions to Drugs
The Irish Medicines Board (IMB), who are responsible for licensing and regulating drugs, has introduced a new section on their website, which allows visitors to report suspected issues with medicines and medical devices.
If you or someone you know has suffered an adverse event from a drug, it is crucial that you contact the IMB to report such an event. If you wish to report an adverse incident involving a drug or medical device please go to the IMB website and follow the links and instructions to report the incident.
Class Actions
In the US cases against pharmaceutical companies can be taken by way of class actions. A class action is a legal vehicle by which a group of people with similar injuries come together to take a case against a large company or private individual.
In Ireland, no such system exists and each individual must take his or her own action.
Pharmaceutical litigation cases are complex and require expert legal knowledge. As one of Ireland's foremost health law and medical negligence specialists, Malcomson Law have considerable knowledge of the legal requirements of such cases.
Making a claim
For further information, please contact Malcomson Law by calling 01 8744422 or complete an Online Enquiry Form. Your enquiry will be forwarded to a solicitor who specialises in this area.