Bronx Personal Injury Attorney: Warning Labels on Defective Drugs

Many doctors and health professionals often advice their patients to carefully read the warning labels on the medicine bottles before taking the drug to prevent their condition from worsening due to side effects. Sometimes, however, medicine bottles have inadequate information on their warning labels, which can lead to someone being injured. The drug’s manufacturer is usually at fault in these cases because they have failed to warn the consumers. If you are a victim of such circumstance, you can take legal action against the manufacturer with the help of an experienced Bronx personal injury attorney.

Duty of the Drug Manufacturer

The drug manufacturer has a duty to inform the user of the hidden dangers that may be present in the product through the warning labels. This is common in the case of prescription drugs, which could have some harmful side effects when taken. It is the duty of the manufacturer to warn the user that: (1) the product presents a danger, (2) the danger is known to the manufacturer, (3) the danger exists even when the product is used as it was intended, and (4) the danger is of an inconspicuous nature, unnoticeable by the average user.

Negligence of Duty

In defective drug liability cases, negligence of the drug manufacturer to warn the user of the drug’s dangers presents a strong reason to take legal action. If you received an injury due to this reason, your lawyer will need to establish that the manufacturer did breach this duty. However, you must also prove on your part that the warning was necessary and that you used the drug as it was intended to be used.

Discovering Risks

A drug manufacturer should be knowledgeable of all the dangers and risks the drug would present. Even if manufacturers are unaware of these dangers, the person or company will still be held accountable for failing to warn about the risk they should have knowledge about. It is, therefore, their duty to know about the risks of their product.

Provide a Clear Warning

The manufacturer can argue that the label did, in fact, relay information and warning about the drug’s dangers. However, the warning must be clear, understandable, and obvious for it to be valid. This means average users should not have trouble comprehending the warning. Also, the warning should be printed where the user can easily see it.

If you or a loved one has been injured by the use of defective drugs, you need the help of capable Bronx injury lawyers from law firms like The Law Offices of Joseph M. Lichtenstein.

Sources:

“Failure to Warn” in a Defective Product Case, www.AllLaw.com

Defects in Warnings, www.FindLaw.com