The last thing anybody should have to worry about when they are prescribed a medication by a doctor is that there will be side effects that neither are they, nor their doctor, would have any knowledge of. Prescription drug recalls have been in the news a lot lately, particularly concerning the heartburn medication Zantac and generic forms of the medication. Colson Hick Eidson is also representing clients who have sustained eye damage due to prescription medication Elmiron, which is used to treat interstitial cystitis.
Here, our nationally recognized prescription drug defect attorneys want to discuss why you should take any drug recall seriously.
They could have misleading labels
When a patient receives a prescription medication, it is vital that all instructions on how to use the medication properly are correct. Medication instructions are generally straightforward, and they outline how consumers are meant to take the product. For example, there are likely instructions on how frequently the medication should be taken, how large the dosage should be, whether a person should take the medication with food, etc.
All of this information must be correct, as it is critical for ensuring that a patient receives the right amount. If a prescription label offers incorrect suggestions, then the patient could suffer serious harm.
It could also be the case that a prescription medication label is completely wrong. For example, if a label incorrectly identifies a prescription’s strength, patients could suffer serious harm even when they think they are taking the medication correctly.
The product could be defective
Prescription drug recalls regularly occur because the product is defective. In most cases, these recalls happen because the medication was not working as intended. This does not necessarily mean that the medication will cause harm to a consumer; this can also indicate that medication will not add any benefit to the consumer either.
Regardless of the reason that prescription medication has been deemed defective, patients should stop taking any recalled medication as soon as possible.
Harmful substances in prescription drugs
There are times when well-designed products experience a manufacturing error that renders them harmful for consumers. This also happens with prescription medications. One of the most serious problems that can occur during the manufacturing process of prescription medication is contamination with harmful substances. When this happens, the information that doctors and consumers have about side effects is irrelevant because these warnings will not take into account the fact that the product has been contaminated.
Perhaps the most well-known recent example of prescription drug medication related to this issue is the contamination of Zantac and other ranitidine products with n-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a potential cancer-causing carcinogen.
Let our team if you have taken a defective prescription drug
If you or somebody you love has been harmed due to defective prescription medication, you should speak to an attorney as soon as possible. The award-winning team at Colson Hicks Eidson has extensive experience handling these cases, and we are ready to help you secure the compensation you deserve. Our defective prescription drug attorneys handle cases In Florida and throughout the United States. You can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or by calling us at 305-476-7400.
