Greensboro Dangerous Drugs Accident Lawyer
Medicine can make you extremely sick when it is a dangerous, defective drug. Complications and side effects of dangerous drugs can lead to serious medical injuries. Patient victims may not even realize at first that it is the drugs that are making them sicker.
When you have been hurt by a dangerous drug accident in North Carolina, you have the right to pursue compensation from all potentially at-fault parties. A Greensboro dangerous drug accident lawyer can help you build a strong case and assemble all of the minimum proof required. Your claim can help you recover money for your hospital bills, lost wages, out of pocket costs, and sometimes even your personal pain and suffering.
Auger & Auger Accident and Injury Lawyers has provided assistance to personal injury victims in Greensboro and throughout the Southeast since 1995. We never represent insurers or big corporations. Instead, we help individuals stand up to corporate interests after they have been hurt by dangerous drugs and other incidents.
If you have had a serious interaction, developed major side effects, or have been put in the hospital because of a drug you have taken — either prescription or over-the-counter — then call our Greensboro dangerous drug accident attorneys today. You can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your options and the best next steps to take.
Call (336) 589-6035 or contact us online to schedule your case review today.
What Counts as a Dangerous Drug?
A dangerous drug is any drug that has the capacity to cause an injury, a medical emergency, or major side effects. Some dangerous drugs are allowed to be released on the market because there is no safer alternative that is equally effective and appealing. These drugs have to warn potential patients of their risks. Doctors also have to be sure that the patient can be informed so that they can consent to the possible risks.
Sometimes, though, dangerous drugs have effects that the patient was not properly warned about. Other times, the drug was so dangerous that even with a warning the effects are unacceptable in the eyes of the law.
North Carolina’s Dangerous Drug Laws
In North Carolina, the standards that must be met for seeking compensation after a dangerous drug are higher than in many states. While many states have a “strict liability” statute that says that companies are liable for any harmful product, the same company has to be negligent to be liable in North Carolina.
What is negligence? In the legal sense, it involves four main things:
- Duty of care: The defendant has a duty of care to follow laws, obey regulations, use professional standards, and exercise “ordinary care” as a “reasonable person” would.
- Breach: The defendant breached their duty of care, either by violating a law, regulation, and/or professional standard or by failing to exercise due care.
- Injury: The breach in the defendant’s duty of care directly led to the plaintiff’s injury (proximate cause)
- Damages: The plaintiff’s injury led to damages, such as hospital bills and non-financial damages like pain and suffering.
North Carolina’s defective product laws require injury victims to prove all four components before they can legally seek compensation. Additionally, the plaintiff has to prove that the risk was “foreseeable” by the drug company or another allegedly at-fault party. If the defendant was unaware of the risk or could not have predicted it through due diligence, then they may not be held liable at all.
Users of a drug also have to be a “foreseeable” user (N.C.G.S. § 99B-5), which means that the drug company had to expect that the person would be prescribed the drug during the formal course of medical treatment. This requirement rules out cases where a non-recommended user took the drug or someone with a rare or not fully understood medical condition took the drug.
Claimants must also prove that they were using the drug as directed.
Because of all of the rules surrounding products liability in North Carolina and the protections afforded to drug manufacturers, claims are usually filed in the following scenarios:
- The drug failed to warn the user about the full risks, which were apparent or should have been apparent to the manufacturer
- The drug created an unacceptable level of risk given that a safer alternative existed that had the same amount of effectiveness and “desirability” (N.C.G.S. § 99B-6)
Who May Be At-Fault for Your Drug Injury
Drug manufacturers aren’t the only people who could be considered at fault for a drug-related medical condition. Other parties may also be involved, including:
- The prescribing doctor
- The pharmacist who filled the prescription
- The retailer or distributor who handled the drug
- The company that re-sold the drug and/or advertised it
- Suppliers to the drug company, if a single component or packaging element was responsible for the dangerous defect
Don’t Be Intimidated by Drug Companies or Insurers
Even though drug companies have lots of protections under North Carolina laws, plenty of people have been able to successfully claim compensation for their drug-related injuries. Working with an experienced dangerous drug accident lawyer in Greensboro can allow you to examine all of the factors in your case, build a strong claim, and potentially convince an insurer that you deserve compensation.
While many claimants may initially be denied partial or full coverage for their losses, an attorney can help them appeal the decision. Using past cases and strong, consistent evidence can often be enough to convince a company to offer a reasonable settlement. If the defendant refuses to offer a reasonable settlement, you and your Greensboro personal injury attorney can take the case to court. Auger & Auger Accident and Injury Lawyers has a history of positive court case outcomes for the clients we represent.
You deserve a fighting chance for the suffering and losses you have experienced. If you have been hurt by a dangerous, defective drug, do not hesitate to exercise your right to legal representation.
Call (336) 589-6035 today or contact us online now to schedule a free, no-obligation case review with an experienced drug accident attorney in Greensboro.
