How to Seek Compensation After Experiencing Major Side Effects From a Medication

Almost every medication available today has side effects, and many of these side effects are listed on the warning labels that come with the medications. Unfortunately, researchers have not found all the side effects of every medication that is currently in use. Because of this there are people that may take medications and suffer extreme problems from this. If you recently suffered major problems from a medication you were taking, you might be able to sue the doctor or pharmaceutical company that made the medication. Here are several things to know about this.

Talk to a Medical Malpractice Attorney

One of the first steps you may want to do is talk to an attorney that specializes in medical malpractice cases. Experiencing major side effects from a medication falls into this branch of law, and this type of attorney will be able to give you advice and suggestions as to how you should proceed. When you meet with the attorney, he or she is likely to discuss the following things with you:

• The side effects you experienced – The attorney will want to know exactly what happened to you after taking this medication. You should be very clear and honest when explaining what happened, and you should bring medical bills or doctor statements you have that verify your story.
• Proof that it was the medication that caused the problem – The attorney may also want to know how you know for sure it was the medication that led to the side effects you experienced. This is often the hardest part of a case to prove, yet you will need to be able to prove this if you want to have a case that wins.

These are two of the most important details you will need to discuss with your lawyer. From there, the lawyer may start looking into two potential options for lawsuits.

The Attorney Can Help You Decide Who to Sue

There are several different ways medication cases like this can be handled, and the attorney may first want to look into the doctor that prescribed it. If your doctor prescribed it to you and failed to research the effects it would have on you when combined with the other medications you were taking, you might be able to sue the doctor. This would be considered negligence if this is what happened because your doctor should have made sure that the new medication would be safe to take with the other medications you were currently on.

If the problems you experienced were not due to a reaction caused by mixing medications, the attorney may then look into the pharmaceutical company that made the medications. If the attorney can prove that there was not enough research completed, or that the company did not place the proper warning labels on the medication, it may be easy to win the case.

In addition, your attorney will probably research other cases that involved bad reactions from the same medication that caused you to experience side effects. In many cases, attorneys are able to form class-action lawsuits against companies. A class-action lawsuit is one in which there are many plaintiffs suing one company for similar problems. Proving that there was a problem with the medication is fairly easy to do if you can find a lot of other people that experienced similar side effects.

Taking medication is supposed to help you feel better and deal with the health problems you have, but this is not always the case. If you suffered major health problems from a medication you took, you may want to seek help from a medical malpractice attorney to find out what you can do to settle your case.