While medical products and devices are designed to help relieve pain, prevent illness, or keep people safe in some way, they often don’t function in the way they were intended. Some of this is due to user error or misuse, but in many cases of malfunctioning medical devices or defective medical products, the manufacturer is to blame. When a person believes that their medical product is defective, or they receive confirmation of it, there are some critical steps to take to ensure that they can receive the personal injury settlement and additional medical care that they require.
Many people first learn that their medical product or device is defective by receiving a recall notice from their doctor’s office or from the manufacturer directly. Even though they may not be experiencing any symptoms or signs of a problem it is important to take these recall notices very seriously. In other cases, people may suspect a defective product on their own, through symptoms or adverse side effects. Regardless of how a person discovers that they have a defective product, they must take several courses of action.
The first step for a person with a defective medical product to take is to see their doctor. There, they can identify potential health risks, determine how they may be affected, and discuss how to to remove the device or cease use of the product.
A person with a defective medical product should take careful notes that describe when they first started taking the medication or using the device, who the prescribing physician was, why they began using it, and what any side effects they experienced at any time over the course of their use of the device or product. These notes will help with their doctor’s visit, particularly if they began using the product under the advice of another doctor. This allows their current physician to fully understand their history using the product or device. The injured party should ensure that they have several copies of their notes so they can provide them where needed and retain a copy for their own personal records as well.
In addition to seeing their doctor, the individual should immediately contact a Hudson Valley personal injury attorney to discuss their situation and determine if they can build a case against the manufacturer, and potentially receive a settlement. A lawyer will also require details about the person’s history with the product or device, so the notes will be useful in this situation as well. There may be other people with similar complaints against a defective medical product and a lawyer will have the resources to learn more about the product, the recall, the manufacturer, and the other people who have been harmed. A personal injury attorney will also assist the injured party in determining a course of action for moving forward.
Following these steps in a timely manner is imperative to the health of the injured party and to assist them in obtaining any settlement possible from their case.
