In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has made incredible progress with drugs and devices that can help people live normal, healthy lives. Chronic pain and seemingly insurmountable medical challenges have been solved with a single surgical implant. With a brand new artificial joint, a simple shunt, or pelvic sling, millions of people have been able to enjoy a pain-free existence.
Because of mounting competition in the pharmaceutical device industry, many manufacturers often rush to get the “next big thing” on the market. This can often result in insufficient testing, faulty design, or other negligent oversights in the device. If these products cause harm to consumers, the manufacturers should be held accountable for the damage caused.
How a Defective Medical Device Lawsuit Typically Works
Unfortunately, when a medical device causes one person to be injured or become ill, it has likely had a similar effect on thousands of individuals that also trusted the device. Because of this, the courts could potentially be flooded with thousands of very similar cases.
This is why most defective medical device lawsuits go through multidistrict litigation. In this process, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation—founded in 1968 in response to an antitrust suit involving nearly 2,000 similar cases—will review requests to consolidate similar lawsuits before these cases go to trial.
This allows things that would be shared by the cases—such as discoveries and depositions—to be gathered under a single federal judge. After these proceedings are complete, the individual cases are sent back, or remanded, to the federal court district in which the case originated. The benefit to these multidistrict litigations is that settlements often occur during the consolidated, pretrial period.
Hiring an Experienced Utah Defective Pharmaceutical Device Attorney
James Esparza has over twenty-five years of experience representing clients in defective medical device litigation, protecting their rights and fighting for the compensation that they deserve.
If you or a loved one has suffered complications from a defective medical implant in Utah, such as a hip implant or transvaginal mesh, contact the James Esparza Law Firm at 801-272-9100, or toll free at 1-800-745-4050.