A pharmaceutical class action suit is when a legal group of individuals come together with a complaint against the manufacturer of a certain drug. This basically means that the scope of the drug’s impact is wide-ranging and has thus caused untold suffering in many individuals’ lives. Class-action lawsuits are filed by individual plaintiffs. This means that not every person who is a member of a class-action lawsuit necessarily has an attorney to represent them, meaning that there is a possibility for one lawsuit to be led by many plaintiffs.
Pharmaceutical lawsuits have also been known to be accompanied by class action lawsuits.
The lawsuits can either be brought by a group or by each individual plaintiff. This means that the settlement can pertain to a wide variety of people; thus putting more weight on the amount of damages that have to be assessed. A class action settlement will be judged by a panel of three judges who will render a final decision based on what is agreed upon by all the members of the settlement class. For instance, if 10 people in a given group to agree to a final settlement of $1000 each, then the final payout will be ten thousand dollars.
One of the most unique things about pharmaceutical class action lawsuits is the fact that the person filing the lawsuit must be a resident of the state that the pharmaceutical manufacturer is based in at the time of filing.
In the past, plaintiffs had to seek out their own attorneys because they didn’t qualify as residents of that state. This often necessitated hiring a lawyer from out of state in order for the case to be heard by a judge. This limitation was due to the fact that most states do not allow personal injury claims to be filed outside of the state that they are living in at the time of injury. Now however, plaintiffs can file lawsuits in any state that they so choose. This allows victims to seek justice in personal injuries caused by negligence in the state in which they live.
Another interesting feature of these lawsuits is that many times there is compensation for more than just negligence.
Many times the pharmaceutical companies will also be responsible for malpractice or errors in manufacture. Some examples of this include the use of negligently dangerous drugs in certain medical conditions, such as AIDS and chronic pulmonary hypertension. Other examples of drugs that have been found to cause birth defects include the birth control pill and hormone replacement therapy. Other drugs that can potentially cause birth defects include Perindopril, an anti-platelet used in the treatment of heart disease, and Lyrica, an antipsychotic used to treat childhood obesity.
As you can see, pharmaceutical class action lawsuits include a wide variety of different remedies.
Although they are designed for monetary compensation, they also aim to educate the public about harmful medications and other pharmaceutical products. For example, some of the lawsuits provide information on the long list of prescription drugs including pain killers like Oxycotin, Percocet, and Vicodin, as well as anti-depressant medications like Lexapro and Cymbalta. Even though many people use these medications to treat symptoms of depression, it has also been discovered that these drugs can be highly addictive and pose very serious side effects.
If you or someone you know has suffered an injury caused by pharmaceutical negligence, it is important to contact a qualified attorney.
They will be able to evaluate your case and determine whether or not you have a valid case. If so, they will work with the pharmaceutical companies to reach a settlement in your behalf.
