Pharmaceutical injuries do more than hurt the body. They can also damage the trust you place in the healthcare system. Determining who is liable for your injury and holding them accountable for the suffering you’ve endured is just as important to your recovery process as obtaining compensation for medical expenses and lost wages.
If you have decided to investigate your options for a Utah defective drug lawsuit, one of the first things you should know about is the Utah statute of limitations on drug liability claims.
The clock starts ticking the moment an injury is discovered.
“Statute of limitations” refers to the amount of time an individual has to file a claim for damages against the maker of a defective product or drug. Every state has its own set of laws governing the statute. In Utah, depending on the circumstances surrounding your case, the window of opportunity for a defective drug lawsuit expires:
- Two years after an injury is sustained
- Two years after an injury is discovered
- Two years after the injury should have been discovered.
Let’s look at each option in closer detail.
- Two years after an injury is sustained: With some defective pharmaceutical injuries, evidence of harm is immediate and unambiguously linked to the drug in question. For example, the manufacturer of a prescription painkiller neglects to include a label warning consumers against operating heavy machinery while taking the drug. Because of this, an individual is severely injured in an automobile accident. In this case, the statue of limitations would begin at the point of the accident.
- Two years after an injury is discovered: Especially when dealing with drug interactions and the long-term effects of chemicals on the body, it may not be possible to know that an injury was sustained for quite some time. For example, a hormone medication causes the victim to develop breast cancer, but they are not aware of this until the diagnosis three years after they stopped taking the drug. In this case, the time limit for filing a lawsuit would begin when the cancer is diagnosed.
- Two years after the injury should have been discovered: Some victims may avoid going to the doctor even after the symptoms of a Salt Lake City drug injury begins to manifest. In this case, Utah law will begin the statute at the point at which it should have become obvious to the victim that they needed to pursue diagnosis. For example, an asthma patient developed a lung disease from the medication in her inhaler, but refused to go to the doctor even after she’d been dealing with a harsh and persistent cough for several months. In this case, the statute began when the victim should have sought treatment for the cough.
What it boils down to is this: if you have been injured by a defective drug, do not waste any time. You have less time to recover damages than you might think. Seek the guidance of a Salt Lake drug injury attorney right away. To set up a no-cost consultation, call our office at 800-745-4050 today.