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Defective Drugs & Products FAQS

With over 30 years of combined legal experience, the attorneys of Prim Law Firm, PLLC represent clients in personal injury actions arising from defective or dangerous products, including over-the-counter and prescription drugs. Backed by credible experts, our skilled trial lawyers have successfully battled major corporations to achieve fair settlements and trial awards on behalf of our clients. From our office outside of Charleston, we assist injured plaintiffs throughout West Virginia, southeastern Ohio and eastern Kentucky.

To learn more about products liability, including claims of defective drugs, medical devices, workplace chemicals and machines and other consumer products, please click on the following links:

Q. What is a “product defect?”

A. A product defect includes any type of product available for use by consumers, including pharmacy or over-the-counter drugs or medical devices, machines or hazardous chemicals found in the workplace, automobiles or auto parts, household products and toys, that fails to perform as expected and causes an injury. There are three types of product defects: design defects, manufacturing defects, and failure to warn.

When a product has a design defect, any product made to the same design specifications will also be defective, no matter how carefully manufactured. Design defects can range from automobile defects, such as a car with a dangerously placed gas tank; to drug defects, such as birth control methods that use new, synthetic forms of progestin, which cause higher risks of deadly blood clots. On the other hand, manufacturing defects are those defects, which occur during the manufacturing process, and usually include substandard manufacturing standards, shoddy workmanship or low quality materials. Finally, when a product has inherent dangers that may not be obvious to the consumer, the manufacturer must provide adequate warnings to the consumer detailing the dangers of use. Failure to warn is frequently an issue in pharmaceutical drug litigation, where a manufacturer did not disclose all the possible harmful effects a drug might have.

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Q. I was injured by a defective product, who is responsible for my injuries?

A. When a product or pharmaceutical drug injures consumers because it is defectively designed or manufactured, or failed to contain adequate warnings or instructions, the product’s manufacturer and other parties in the chain of manufacture may be held strictly liable for any harm that results. An injured consumer does not have to prove that the manufacturer was negligent, but only that the defective or unreasonably dangerous product or drug caused the harm.

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Q. Should I keep the defective product that caused my injuries?

A. If possible, it is generally wise to preserve the defective product as long as it is safe to do so. The defective product may provide proof that your injuries were caused by the product’s defective design, shoddy workmanship, or lack of adequate warnings. If the product is safely preserved and not altered in any way, our experts may be able to examine it as evidence and present testimony on its defects. However, if you are unable to preserve the product, for example, because your injuries were caused by a defective drug, our attorneys may still have enough evidence to prove your case. We keep an extensive database of illness patterns and have had substantial success linking injuries to certain causes. Our firm has had particular success in workplace injury cases arising from defective chemicals because we are able to link injuries to specific chemicals based on the illness patterns of coworkers.

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Committed to Client Service

If a defective drug, medical device, workplace chemical or machine or a consumer product caused you to suffer injuries or lose a loved one, contact the Prim Law Firm, PLLC and schedule a free initial consultation. For the convenience of our clients, our attorneys maintain flexible schedules, and we will come to you if you are too injured to come to us.