When things go right, modern pharmaceuticals can help you live a longer, healthier life, enabling you to do things that may have been impossible without them. If your medication is defective and harmful, it could be worse the condition you sought to treat and shorten your life. If you’re suffering from over-the-counter or prescription drugs, you may be entitled to compensation.
Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, LLP represents people who trusted their doctors and thought they were doing the right thing by using medications but suffered injuries. We help our0 clients make things right by obtaining compensation that may help them get their lives back.
Drug Side Effects Can Severely Affect Your Health and Life
Many drugs were developed, manufactured, and sold with the best of intentions but did more harm than good. This is a short list of drugs that may be dangerous to you or a loved one:
- Abilify: This is an antipsychotic medication that changes how chemicals act in the brain. Adults and children at least 13 years old may use it for psychotic conditions, including schizophrenia. It can also be prescribed for bipolar disorder (manic depression) and major depressive disorder. Because of its brain-altering qualities, some users develop serious side effects, including compulsive behavior like shopping, eating, gambling, and sexual activity
- Belviq: This impacts chemical signals in the brain related to appetite. It works by helping users feel full with smaller meals to treat obesity related to high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure. It’s believed the drug increases the risk of developing cancer
- Cymbalta and Lyrica: These medications treat depression and nerve issues. Potential side effects include suicidal thoughts, memory loss, mood swings, and inability to concentrate
- Elmiron: This prescription drug is used to treat interstitial cystitis (or painful bladder syndrome), a condition causing painful inflammation of the bladder as well as ulcers and bleeding. The drug may cause maculopathy, an eye disorder that may result in vision loss and blindness
- Jardiance: This prescription drug helps lower blood sugar in those with type two diabetes. It can increase the chances of developing Fournier’s Gangrene (a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection of the scrotum, penis, or perineum (the area between the genitals and rectum)). Plaintiffs allege the manufacturer knew about these problems but failed to warn patients
- Levaquin: This antibiotic treats bacterial infections. Side effects may be the breakdown of collagen (a fiber-like protein that makes up connective tissue) which may lead to vision loss, aortic aneurysm and dissection, tendon ruptures, and central nervous system problems
- Nexium: This drug is a proton pump inhibitor that reduces the production of acids in the stomach. It could prevent erosive esophagitis or treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Potential side effects include cognitive decline, kidney failure, bone fractures, and stomach cancer
- Pradaxa: This thins users’ blood to prevent strokes and treat blood clots. This prescription drug, because it makes it more difficult for blood to clot, is linked to many severe bleeding cases, including fatalities
- Taxotere: This chemotherapy drug treats lung, breast, prostate, stomach, head, and neck cancers. It’s one of the most common treatments for breast cancer, but it may also lead to permanent hair loss, eye damage, and vision impairment
- Tenofovir: This prescription medication treats hepatitis B infections and HIV. It may lead to kidney disease and bone injuries. Its manufacturer, Gilead Sciences, is accused of knowing about these risks but not taking the drug off the market
- Valsartan: Batches of this blood pressure drug were contaminated with a possible carcinogen, n-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA)
- Xeljanz: This treatment for arthritis (rheumatoid and psoriatic) and ulcerative colitis could cause cancer, blood clots, and cardiovascular problems
- Zantac: This medication treats and prevents heartburn, GERD, and stomach ulcers. Zantac was found to be contaminated with NDMA. Plaintiffs in lawsuits involving the drug claim its manufacturers knew about the problem but failed to correct it
Many more drugs can harm you in ways you might never expect. If this happens, you may be able to receive compensation for the injuries you suffer.
Should I Hire an Unsafe Drug Injury Lawyer?
If you have severe injuries, your case is worth protecting. Retain a Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., unsafe drug attorney because there are many personal injury attorneys, but few have experience with these cases.
Pharmaceutical claims are highly complex, factually and legally, and defendants take these lawsuits seriously. You don’t want a lawyer who will learn while working on your case.
If you need a Houston unsafe drug injury lawyer with years of experience with the regional court system, call Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. Contact our legal team today to schedule a free consultation so we can talk about your injuries, how Texas law works, and what you should do to protect your legal rights.
