Defective Drugs & Faulty Products
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  • How can I prove that a defective drug caused my health problems or a family member’s death?

    Succeeding with a defective drug claim in Virginia usually requires showing all of the following things:

    • The person who used the drug suffered a serious health problem or died,
    • The health problem or death can be linked to use of the drug,
    • The drug maker failed to warn the patient about the potential health problem or risk of death, and
    • The drug maker knew or should have known that the risk to patients’ health or lives existed.

    These are the evidentiary standards imposed on failure to warn cases. A smaller number of defective drug cases arise from manufacturing defects. In those cases, a patient experiences a severe side effect or dies because the drug maker or compounding pharmacist used the wrong ingredients; used too much of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, thereby, triggering an overdose; or included harmful substances in the drug product that should not be included.

    A drug maker faced with a defective drug lawsuit will argue that its product was safe and that any problems experienced by patients were caused by things other than its product. Working with a dedicated Virginia personal injury lawyer is often necessary to collect, organize and present the evidence that counters the drug maker’s arguments.


  • Can I file a lawsuit over a severe drug side effect?

    Just suffering a severe side effect is almost never enough to justify filing a defective drug lawsuit. First, drug makers protect themselves from legal claims by listing potential problems for patients in product labeling. Beyond that, it is not always clear that a health problem or death can be blamed on using a medication.

    Grounds for a defective drug lawsuit in Virginia exist only when one of the following things is true:

    • A patient or a patient’s family member can show that the drug maker knew or should have known that a risk existed and failed to warn anyone about that risk; or
    • A patient or family member can show that harmful errors were made during the manufacturing process.


  • What is a defective drug?

    A defective drug is one that causes undisclosed, severe side effects. A drug can be defective because its maker failed to warn patients about the risk or because it contains the wrong ingredients.

    Examples of defective drugs for which pharmaceutical companies failed to issue adequate warning include Actos (pioglitazone for diabetes, which causes heart failure and bladder cancer) and Pradaxa (dabigatran for breaking up blood clots, which causes life-threating internal bleeding).

    Any drug product can have manufacturing defects at any time. Analyzing doses from the batch including the drug used by the patient who suffered a severe, unexpected side effect will be necessary to identify the error.


  • What are some of the common types of auto defects that can lead to injury and litigation?

    Some of the most common auto defects that may cause personal injury are steering wheel problems; fuel system problems and leaks; malfunctioning windshield wipers; seats and seat backs that fail; child safety seat defects; wiring system problems; defective brakes and faulty airbags. 

  • What is the difference between a design and manufacturing defect?

    A design defect happens when the manufacturer designs the product in a way that is unreasonably dangerous to the end user, such as a defect in a car that makes it more likely to flip during an accident. 

    A manufacturing defect happens when there is an error in the manufacturing process.









