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Our pharmaceutical litigation attorneys serving Salt Lake City and all of Utah are aggressive and experienced litigators committed to protecting the rights of individuals to fair compensation. For free legal advice including a complete case evaluation, contact our law firm.
Siegfried & Jensen
5664 South Green St.
Murray, Utah 84123
Phone: 1-866-883-5350
Fax: 1-801-266-1338
At Siegfried & Jensen, our pharmaceutical litigation attorneys serving Salt Lake City and all of Utah are dedicated to protecting the rights of persons injured by dangerous or defective drugs. While all medications have side effects, it is reasonable for a person under a doctor's care to expect that the side effects of a drug will not cause greater harm than the condition the drug was meant to treat. Pharmaceutical companies have a duty to warn doctors and their patients of potential dangers and in some cases remove those dangers by recalling their product. When pharmaceutical companies fail to fulfill their duties, civil law can compel them to provide fair financial compensation to victims and their families. In the sections below, our pharmaceutical litigation attorneys answer commonly asked questions about defective drug claims.
Pharmaceutical litigation is a specific kind of personal injury law that protects the rights of individuals who have suffered injuries as a result of taking dangerous prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs. Together with cases involving environmental chemical exposure, pharmaceutical litigation is sometimes referred to as toxic tort.
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A dangerous drug is any drug that has the potential to seriously harm its user. A dangerous drug may also be considered a defective drug if it does not provide the intended health benefits. A limited quantity of a drug may be considered both dangerous and defective if the sole source of its danger stems from a flaw in its manufacturing process such as an accidental chemical contamination.
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Yes. There are two basic scenarios where a drug might be dangerous and yet still be approved by the FDA. In the first scenario, a drug may remain on the market because the FDA has not yet been provided with sufficient evidence linking the drug to health risks. Evidence often includes negative patient testimonials and/or pharmaceutical litigation claims, clinical trials, and statistical analysis studies.
In the second scenario, the FDA may allow a drug to remain on the market in spite of serious risk factors, provided certain criteria are met. The potential risks of the drug must be justified by the potential benefits. One well-documented example of this principle relates to the drugs prescribed to patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Chemotherapy drugs can cause severe damage to the heart, liver, and immune system. Chemotherapy is still, however, a commonly prescribed treatment for cancer in spite of the risks, because the disease being treated has a high incidence of fatality and safer alternatives have yet to be discovered. The other criterion is that the pharmaceutical manufacturer must fully disclose any known risks or potential risks associated with the drug to doctors and patients. This can be done through product labeling, mass mailings of letters to doctors and hospitals, or through public service announcements released by either the FDA or the company itself.
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The pharmaceutical litigation attorneys at the Salt Lake City, Utah-area firm of Siegfried & Jensen will determine whether or not you have a pharmaceutical litigation claim through a combination of research and experience. Our attorneys have handled a variety of cases involving injuries due to pharmaceutical company negligence or wrongdoing. Our pharmaceutical litigation attorneys understand the duties of the pharmaceutical companies in terms of federal and state law, and also legal precedent. Legal precedent is when the reasons behind a judge's decision regarding a certain case are used as a means for other judges to decide how to rule in similar cases. Our firm's extensive and up-to-date legal database allows us access to detailed records of past pharmaceutical litigation cases, information that smaller firms often have to scramble to obtain. Siegfried & Jensen also has contacts with a variety of medical and pharmaceutical experts who are willing to consult with us about the strengths and weaknesses of your potential claim.
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It would be difficult to construct an exhaustive list of all past and pending pharmaceutical claims filed by defective drug victims. Instead, the pharmaceutical litigation attorneys at our firm in the Salt Lake City , Utah area have assembled a list of drugs involved in claims they've handled for victims over the years.
There are of course many other dangerous drugs that have either been recalled or are still on the market. If you have been injured by a dangerous drug, please contact our pharmaceutical litigation attorneys serving Salt Lake City and all of Utah. We can provide you with valuable legal advice at no cost or obligation.
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Every pharmaceutical litigation claim is different, even claims involving the same drug. The fact that other individuals who have been injured by the same drug that caused your injury were able to receive compensation does not guarantee that your claim will also be successful. There is, however, a law concept known as legal precedent. A legal precedent is a ruling issued by a court that is used to determine the outcome of similar cases in the future. If your claim is similar to another case in a way that is relevant to the legal precedent set forth by that case, then your claim has a better chance of being successful. This information can be obtained from one of our pharmaceutical litigation attorneys in the Salt Lake City, Utah area during your free case evaluation.
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A class action suit is a claim filed on behalf of multiple injured persons against a single defendant. In the case of pharmaceutical litigation class action claims, the defendant is almost always the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the dangerous drug. In order for a judge to grant class action status to a case, the plaintiffs' claims must be sufficiently similar to warrant trying the claims together rather than through individual litigation.
Class action lawsuits require a large investment of finances and time from the firm handling the case. As a large and well-established firm with significant experience litigating both individual and mass tort claims, Siegfried & Jensen is prepared and equipped to handle class action claims when the need arises. Filing a claim as a class action is not the right course of action for every claim. Our pharmaceutical litigation attorneys will only file your claim as a class action if they are confident that this approach is in your best interest. For more information, contact our office in the Salt Lake City, Utah area today.
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No pharmaceutical litigation attorney can honestly guarantee that a successful pharmaceutical litigation claim will result in a drug recall. A successful pharmaceutical litigation claim provides the injured individual with the financial resources to cover their medical bills and any assisted care expenses, and ideally will financially compensate the victim for physical and emotional suffering. The act of filing a pharmaceutical litigation claim alerts the pharmaceutical company that if they continue to do business irresponsibly, they risk losing money. It also alerts the FDA that a pharmaceutical company has been accused of wrongdoing. Whether the drug is recalled is usually up to the pharmaceutical company and the FDA.
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When you consult with one of our talented pharmaceutical litigation attorneys in the Salt Lake City, Utah area, you not only benefit from the full attention of an experienced litigator, but your claim benefits from the abundant legal resources of a large and well-established firm. Siegfried & Jensen has been serving the community by protecting the rights of defective and dangerous drug victims for over 15 years. We have obtained fair compensation for the injuries of many claimants during that time. At Siegfried & Jensen, we are completely devoted to doing all that we can to ensure you receive just compensation for the negligence of the pharmaceutical company. Contact our law firm today.
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