Defective Drugs – Better Quality of Life or Lies?

We trust our physicians to prescribe us with only the best medications; ones that will cause little to no ill side effects and help us recover in a timely fashion. However, often due to no fault of our doctors, even FDA approved medications are found to be defective, resulting in personal injury and the wrongful death of its victims.

Defective drugs cause the death of thousands each year and the serious injury of close to half a million. Manufacturers claim to spend large amounts of money to test these drugs, so how do they make it onto the marketplace? The answer is sometimes negligence and sometimes deliberate deception on the part of the behemoth pharmaceutical companies:

· A drug is not thoroughly tested

· Unsuspected side effects occur

· Test results are overlooked

· Test results are concealed

· Important questions are not asked, sometimes deliberately

· Prescribed for the wrong reasons

What Drug Categories Are Defective?

Drugs are designed to aid us in recovery or allow us to lead healthier lives, but there are defective drugs found in every drug category.

· Erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra have been found to cause a drop in blood pressure and NAION, which is a loss of vision

· Diet drugs often cause more harm than good in countless ways

· Hormone drugs cause tragic complications such as stroke, blood clots and death

· Anti-depressants such as Paxil have been linked to an increase in suicide and birth defects

· Pain killers like OxyContin are highly addictive and subject to abuse

This is not to say that every drug in every category is defective though. But you should give great consideration to possible risks and unforeseen side effects before taking a new prescription drug that will supposedly better your quality of life.

Recent Drug Recalls

While you are eligible for compensation for past defective drugs, it’s the most recent recalls that should signal an alarm bell if you or a loved one had been prescribed to them.

Some recent drug recalls are:

· Heparin--improper labeling and defective manufacturing procedures led to dozens of injuries and deaths as a result of this blood thinner

· Digitek--insufficient quality control led to pills being released with twice the effective dose of this heart arrhythmia medication

· Trasylol--an anti-hemorrhagic drug, this medication is highly toxic to the liver and may have led to as many as 1000 deaths a month at the height of its popularity

· Vioxx – The biggest recall in recent memory was due to Vioxx. Designed to treat acute and chronic pain, arthritis sufferers raved about its benefits. In the years following its approval in 1999, studies found that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attack and stroke

· Fen-phen – A diet drug also known as Redux or Pondimin, Fen-phen was recalled in 1997 due to an increased risk of developing PPH, which can lead to higher blood pressure and heart failure

· Rezulin - An anti-inflammatory that has been found to cause hepatitis

· Baycol – 52 fatal cases of renal failure have been linked to Baycol, which was used to lower cholesterol

· Phenylpropanolamine – An appetite suppressant that has caused strokes and is used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine

Have You Been The Victim of Defective Drugs?

It’s a tragedy that even with oversight from the FDA that defective prescription drugs still leak through and seriously harm or kill its victims.