Defective Medical Devices in Sacramento
It’s difficult not to be impressed by the advances medicine has made in the past 100 years. The vast array of medical devices and implants on the market today offer an excellent case in point. Have a problem with heart arrhythmia? There’s a medical device for that. Have your joints become creaky and painful with age? There are implants for that. Unhappy with the size of your breasts? There’s an implant for that.
It’s as if the human body is a machine. When parts wear out, malfunction, or displease us cosmetically, we simply replace them with new, manmade medical devices or implants.
There’s no question that these devices allow millions of people to live longer, fuller lives. That’s one reason why there’s such a large demand for them. But therein lies the problem. In their eagerness to meet the market’s demand and maximize profits, many manufacturers of medical devices and implants cut corners on fully testing the devices before they become available to the public. Sometimes, they use shoddy materials. Sometimes, there’s a flaw in the design of the device or the manufacturing process.
We’ve all been taught to be careful about what we put in our bodies. But in order to practice caution, we must know the risks. Many people who go through complex, painful surgeries to install medical implants and devices in their bodies have not been fully informed of all the risks. The results can be devastating. Pacemakers malfunction and patients die. Breast implants break and silicone leaks into the body, causing disfigurement and immune system disorders. Hip implants shatter bone, requiring more painful surgery. This is not the quality of life you were promised.
Product Liability Lawyers Cover Medical Devices Too
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a medical device or implant, Demas Law Group, P.C., can help. Our experienced Sacramento product liability attorneys have represented hundreds of clients who’ve been injured by medical devices, ensuring that they receive just compensation for the physical and mental harm caused when the devices fail and they have not been adequately informed about the risk.
Currently, Demas Law Group, P.C., is participating in a nationwide mass tort lawsuit against two manufacturers of faulty hip implants, DePuy and Johnson and Johnson. Because the injuries caused by these hip implants are spread out across the country, we generally represent clients from the greater Sacramento area who wish to file a claim lawsuit against faulty medical devices, and defective drugs as well.
Demas Law Group, P.C., is also accepting cases from people who have been injured by defective transvaginal mesh implants, as well as defective shoulder pain pumps.
In the recent past, we successfully represented several hundred local women who were injured by breast implants. We ensured each woman was examined by a board-certified physician, and because of our hard work, we won a multi-million dollar settlement for our clients. In nearly every case, we were able to obtain the maximum allowable recovery for our respective client’s injuries. The manufacturers agreed to a $4 billion settlement for all the victims injured nationwide. Collectively, our clients received a multi-million dollar award.
Medical Device Failures: You Are Not Alone
The market for medical devices and implants has grown exponentially during the past decade. For example, more than 300,000 people undergo expensive hip joint replacement surgery every year. Unfortunately, some artificial hip joints have failure rates of more than 10 percent. If you were informed there was a 1-in-10 chance that a hip implant might shatter your femur or pelvis, mechanically break inside your body or release harmful metal particles into your bloodstream, would you have still opted for the surgery? Perhaps not.
However, in many cases, hip implant manufacturers are either unaware of the risks because the device wasn’t adequately tested or they fail to warn patients of known risks because the patient might opt out of the surgery. These companies are multi-million dollar enterprises and have the financial resources to vigorously fight injury claims made by individual patients.
But when it comes to hip implant failures, you are not alone. Thousands of people have been injured by these medical devices, and some have even died. When many people are injured by the same product, they may band together to take legal action known as a mass tort lawsuit. When a settlement is reached in a mass tort action, the court may order the manufacturer to create a trust from which the plaintiffs receive compensation based on the level of their injury.
