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Pennsylvania Drug Injury Lawyer

Drug Injuries

HIGHLY CREDENTIALED TRIAL LAWYERS

Errors and injuries with medication are among the most common problems in the health care system, and can have serious consequences that include permanent disability and even death. Injuries can happen anywhere in the chain of prescribing, packaging, labeling, administering, filling a prescription, monitoring, and taking of drugs.

When a patient suffers harm from medication, it is called an adverse drug event (ADE), and these events cause nearly 700,000 emergency department visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. Nearly 5% of hospitalized patients experience an ADE, and ambulatory patients may have even higher rates. As a result, medication errors are the source of about one-fourth of medical malpractice cases.

If you or a loved one has suffered from a drug injury, you may be entitled to compensation, and we are here to help. Our skilled and experienced Pennsylvania drug injury lawyers at Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters have spent decades honing their skills and successfully representing Pennsylvania families who have suffered an injury or loss due to negligence and malpractice by medical professionals, hospitals, and drug companies.

We offer a free consultation to examine the facts of your individual situation and determine the best way to proceed with your case. Contact us today by calling (570) 323-8711 or by using our online contact form.

FREE CASE REVIEW

Common Causes of Drug Injuries

Harmful drug injuries are most often caused by:

  • Wrong drug — Pharmacists may fill prescriptions with a drug having a similar name or appearance.
  • Wrong dosage — Doctors may prescribe incorrect dosages, or pharmacists may instruct the patient to take the wrong amount of a drug for reasons such as poor physician handwriting or confusion over zeros and decimal points.
  • Technology Errors — Computers and other technology that help with medication monitoring may have system problems, fail, or have confusing software that leads to user mistakes.
  • Incomplete patient information — When medical professionals don’t find out about patients’ allergies, diagnoses and other medicines taken which may cause interactions, the prescribed drug may cause harm.
  • Lack of appropriate labeling — When drugs are repackaged into smaller units or dispensed in packaging or vials that look alike, confusion can result.
  • Individuals can react differently to drugs that sometimes have dangerous side effects.

Common Drug Injury Cases

Our law firm considers all pharmaceutical, drug-related and medical device cases. Currently our drug litigation lawyers are concentrating on the following dangerous drugs:

  • Testosterone: Testosterone replacement therapies such as AndroGel, Axiron, Testim or AndroDerm can potentially be linked to heart attack, stroke and pulmonary embolism.
  • Byetta:For millions of Americans with Type 2 diabetes, Byetta is an injectable drug that is prescribed to lower blood glucose levels. Recent studies have linked Byetta to conditions such as pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.
  • Januvia: Commonly prescribed for Type 2 diabetes, Januvia has recently been linked to pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.
  • Victoza: As with numerous other injectable drugs, Victoza has been prescribed to Americans with Type 2 diabetes, but has been linked with acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.
  • Mirena:Some individuals using the Mirena IUD as birth control have suffered serious injuries such as a perforation of the uterine wall, sepsis or pelvic inflammatory disease.
  • Lipitor:Women have developed diabetes while taking Lipitor to lower their blood cholesterol.
  • Granuflo / Naturalyte

Medical Devices

Medical device cases are considered under a different body of law and may be subject to federal preemption and interaction between federal and state law.

Medical device claims fall under different classifications. Some devices malfunction, some are defective, and sometimes the manufacturer provides misleading or improper information for approval which may lead to liability. Whether you have been injured by a pharmaceutical or a medical device such as a Stryker Hip Implant, you should call our law firm for assistance and direction.

Types of Cases

manimgPharmaceutical malpractice occurs when a medical professional or pharmacist does not conform to the standard of care in his or her field. It can also involve product liability claims when manufacturers fail to provide information or even give false or misleading data to federal approving authorities. Claims may be based upon the safety of the drug or medical device, the nature of the warnings on the product, or even the marketing of the drug.  Some drug injury lawsuits are brought as individual cases, while others are multi-district cases or class action lawsuits. How a case is handled depends upon the facts of each case and the basis of liability. It takes expertise to understand the nuances and complexities of the interaction between federal and state law in both medical device and pharmaceutical cases.

If You Have Suffered Serious Side Effects or Injuries From Drugs, Our Experienced Pennsylvania Drug Injury Lawyers Can Help

If you or a loved one has suffered damages from drug injuries, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. Since these cases are complicated, it is essential to have experienced attorneys and legal staff on your side. Based in Williamsport, we serve clients throughout the state of Pennsylvania, offering a free consultation on all personal injury matters. More than that, we offer you experience, knowledge, compassion, and a long history of results.

Contact us today by calling (570) 323-8711 or by using our online contact form.

Attorney Cliff Rieders

Attorney Cliff RiedersCliff Rieders is a Nationally Board Certified Trial Lawyer practicing personal injury law. A large part of his practice involves multi-district litigation, including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements and medical devices. He is admitted in several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Rieders is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the Board for 15 years.

Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed, leadership positions, he authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. Rieders also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West Publishing.

As recognition of his wide range of contribution to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award, and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. [ Attorney Bio ]