(816) 701-1100The United States currently has the largest medical device industry in the world boasting an annual sales rate of $156 billion, and this number is only estimated to increase in the next few years. A lot of these medical devices are non-invasive and don’t pose serious risks to their users, but there are a significant number of medical devices that are invasive and can potentially pose serious health threats in the instances that the devices malfunction or fail for many reasons.
Defective and dangerous medical devices are the root cause of tens of thousands of injuries each year, some of which are serious enough to cause permanent disabilities and even death amongst users.
Our team of experienced medical device litigation experts is here to support injury victims and their families when a serious injury occurs as a result of medical device usage. When you contact us for a free consultation we’ll be able to review the facts pertaining to your situation and put you and your family in the right direction towards receiving your rightful compensation for all your past, present and future medical bills, any lost wages and lost future earning capacity, pain and suffering, and many other potential damages.
How the FDA Exacerbates Medical Device Injuries
There is in a sense a “shortcut” through the FDA’s approval processes of bringing certain medical devices to the market, and this is known as the 510(k) premarket process. When a product undergoes this process, the manufacturers will essentially be able to skip any necessary testing periods.
The FDA allows certain medical device manufacturers to skip clinical trials when a specific unapproved device is “similar” or “substantially equivalent” to an already existing medical device that’s available to the public. The FDA has stated that these types of medical devices don’t require rigorous testing because they’ve been “tested by time”, but the main issues that arise occur when a medical device manufacturer markets their device as “substantially equivalent” while still fully being aware that there are significant differences to any similar existing products.
These medical product manufacturers will typically go the 510(k) premarket process route in order to avoid the significant costs associated with lengthy trial periods, but the externality of this negligence is that there are many new medical devices available to the public that skipped clinical trials and pose legitimate threats of injuries to innocent users!
Filing Within a Medical Device Mass Tort Lawsuit
Mass torts involve several plaintiffs against one or more corporate defendants, and medical device mass tort lawsuits entail a group of people who were injured by the same defective product. Although there are instances in which medical devices are recalled, some products remain open to the public for many years until injuries on a massive scale suddenly emerge.
When a medical device manufacturer refuses to address the injuries and subsequent harm their device has inflicted on its users, mass tort litigation may be the only way for the device’s users to seek legal recourse.
Insufficient warnings and incomplete labeling are also issues posed by medical devices, but no matter what the fault is in the product they’re all capable of causing physical, emotional and psychological injuries that users can receive compensation towards.
There are instances in which medical device victims and their families face damages like the following:
- Continuous medical costs
- The inability to work
- Pain and suffering
- Wrongful death
- And much, much more…
Medical device lawsuits help victims and their loved ones obtain the compensation they need to help recover from the subsequent damages the faulty product inflicted, but each and every case is very unique. This is partly why mass tort litigation makes more sense than class-action lawsuits, because when a plaintiff files under mass tort they’ll have their case uniquely quantified amongst many others.
Our attorneys are here to help explain what your options are in terms of your available legal strategies, and help lead the fight in your legal battle so you don’t have to undergo the unnecessary stresses it inevitably entails.
Medical Device Classifications and Class III Examples
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been the legislative body overseeing the use of medical devices throughout the United States since 1976, and since then the FDA has continuously categorized medical devices under three distinct classifications (I, II, III) that are based upon the potential risks involved with the device’s usage.
Class I and II medical devices tend to not be apart of mass tort litigation too often because they entail devices like bandaging, bed pans, motorized wheelchairs, medical test kits and needles, however Class III medical devices are a different story.
Class III medical devices are any items that are utilized to support/sustain an individual’s life, but also pose a legitimate risk of injury or illness and require a lot of premarket research and approval. Some examples of Class III medical devices include the following:
- Breast implants
- Defibrillators
- Cochlear implants
- Pacemakers
- High-frequency ventilators
- Implanted prosthetics
- Fetal blood sampling monitors
- And many others…
Some other specific medical devices that Wagstaff & Cartmell is currently pursuing cases within include the following:
Wagstaff & Cartmell’s Mass Tort Success
Our law firm has a long history of helping victims of dangerous pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices to receive their rightful compensation via mass tort litigation. There’s no denying that mass tort lawsuits are complicated in their own nature, which is why it’s so crucial for plaintiffs, as well as other personal injury firms, to team up with a nationally recognized leading firm that has mass tort experience and a past history of successful mass tort results.
In terms of mass tort lawsuits particularly pertaining to the medical device product liability, our team has helped lead the way in supporting thousands of injury victims within the following cases:
- In re Ethicon Products Liability Litigation
- In re Depuy Pinnacle Hip Implants
- In re Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch
- In re Infusion Pump Cases
- In re Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation
- In re Cook Medical, Inc., IVC Filters Marketing, Sales and Products Liability Litigation
Our experience within medical device mass tort litigation and mult-district litigation helps set us apart throughout the United States, and we’re very proud to continuously be named to the plaintiffs’ leadership teams within the nation’s largest medical device cases.
Throughout our firm’s history we have remained vigilant in terms of holding these types of negligent corporations accountable for their patient injustices, and today Wagstaff & Cartmell remains on the cutting edge of these high-stakes mass tort cases.
Contact Us Today For a Free Consultation
We know how serious medical device injuries tend to be on the victim and their loved ones, and we also know how time is always of the essence when it comes to holding the negligent parties who ultimately caused the injuries accountable.
Contact us today for a free consultation so we can get a thorough understanding of your situation and help you formulate the necessary initial steps towards a successful legal action against negligent medical device manufacturers.
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Fax: (816) 531-2372
