Drugs

CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA DEFECTIVE DRUG LITIGATION LAWYERS

United States and multi-national pharmaceutical companies each year bring new and different products to market. Some have adequately been tested, but some regrettably have not. Recent history teaches us that drug manufacturers and their desire to aggressively market their products and focus on profits, oftentimes ignore harmful side effects of otherwise beneficial drugs and medical devices. In the pursuit of profit, or because of poor science, many consumers are hurt each year by drugs which create, rather than relieve, human pain and suffering. In these types of cases, the lawyers of Walkup are available to represent those who have been harmed.

Our defective drug litigation attorneys have the experience and resources to thoroughly investigate and prosecute injury and wrongful death claims which arise out of prescription and non-prescription drugs, supplements, and over-the-counter remedies which cause injury or harm.

In both California and Nevada, great deference is given to FDA approval –but recent history tells us that approval by the FDA means little, if anything, about the safety and/or efficacy of a drug. By the time a drug is recalled, oftentimes many people have been killed or injured. Our attorneys have handled cases involving Vioxx (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that was originally approved to help ease the pain of arthritis, but later determined to cause serious heart problems), Bextra (approved by the FDA in 2001, but withdrawn from the market in 2005 by the FDA because it showed a 300% increase in the risk of serious cardiovascular events), Rezulin (originally marketed after FDA approval for the treatment of Type II diabetes – but removed from the market because of liver failure and death due to hepatic toxicity), silicone breast implants, Fen-Phen, L-Tryptophan, and a host of other drugs and devices.

Our mass tort team and class action lawyers have experience representing large groups of individuals injured by dangerous pharmaceutical products. With a full-time physician/attorney on our staff, and a second physician/attorney affiliated with us on an “of counsel” basis, we provide our clients with resources for investigating dangerous drug cases that few other firms possess. When drug companies continue to market products, ignoring serious health effects, in the relentless pursuit of profit, you need attorneys who have done battle with these giants in the past, and won. Whether you or a loved one have sustained injury or death as the result of preventable side effects from a prescription drug or over-the-counter remedy, Walkup lawyers are available to investigate your claim and represent you if your loss is the result of drug manufacturer wrongdoing.

EXAMPLES OF OUR SUCCESS

Dangerous Diabetes Drug - $2,500,000 Settlement

Our pharmaceutical injury lawyers successfully recovered $2,500,000 on behalf of a 63-year-old Sacramento woman who was prescribed a diabetes drug that resulted in liver failure and the need for a liver transplant. The drug had been approved by the FDA, but was later recalled. The drug maker initially claimed that the drug was safe. However, our attorneys were able to demonstrate that the manufacturer knew about problems with impaired liver function, but never adequately warned doctors or the public about this side effect, and limited any mention of possible liver damage to the “fine print” of its package insert. Because of the manufacturer’s failure to tell prescribing doctors about the problem, our client’s physicians were unaware that her liver failure was due to the drug – delaying an accurate diagnosis for almost six months, by which time her condition had become life-threatening.

Defective Breast Implants – Multiple Settlements

Our product liability group represented a class of women whose silicone breast implants failed, leaking silicone and causing connective tissue diseases, autoimmune disorders, and lupus. The total amount of each client’s settlement differed depending upon the nature and extent of the woman’s disability, whether she required surgery, her age, the amount of her medical expenses, whether she was left with cosmetic disfigurement, and whether it was likely she would require future medical care. Our drug liability lawyers demonstrated that the makers of silicone breast implants (including Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Dow-Corning, McGhan Medical, and Surgi-Tech) knew or should have known that the plastic implant capsules were likely to break down, leak silicone gel, and that free silicone would move within the body with the potential of causing great harm.

Vioxx-Heart Attack Settlements

Our product liability team is currently in the midst of litigating with the makers of Vioxx, a osteoarthritis drug intended to relieve pain and suffering, but which, in fact, has caused great harm by virtue of the drug’s propensity to cause heart valve injury, heart attacks and strokes. Our cases are currently in litigation, with trial dates set in the future. Settlements in these cases have not as yet occurred.

L-Tryptophan – Multiple Million Dollar Settlements

Our product liability team represented 23 injured consumers who had taken the over-the-counter supplement L-Tryptophan. They developed a wide variety of problems, including elevated blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. Our drug products specialists negotiated settlements ranging from $100,000 to well over $1,000,000 on behalf of these clients.

Contact Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger for a FREE CONSULTATION with a personal injury attorney experienced in defective drug pharmaceutical, prescription medication injury, or medical implant injury litigation.