Defective Medical Drug/Device Litigation

Nearly 70% of Americans are on at least one prescription drug and more than half take two, according to a study by the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center. Similarly, tens of millions of Americans live with medical devices implanted in their bodies—artificial joints, heart defibrillators, surgical mesh. (Consumer Reports magazine: May 2012)

Clinician Looking at x-ray

We assume that these medical products are safe and effective.  We assume they have been rigorously tested.  We assume that all known risks and side-effects have been disclosed to patients and their healthcare providers. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Recalls of dangerous pharmaceuticals and medical implants/devices have surged in recent years. (August 2014 Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society Report.)  In fact, the FDA recently released a report finding that the annual number of medical device recalls increased by 97% from 2003 to 2012. (FDA Report.) Most recently, one of the most recognized cases of medical device recalls involved hip replacements by various companies include DePuy and Stryker.

Unfortunately, for many patients these recalls or warnings come too late. Drugmakers and device manufacturers have various legal duties to ensure that their medical products are safe. For example, drugmakers and device manufacturers have the duty to adequately test the product, the duty to warn of certain side effects, and the duty to manufacture their drugs or devices in a manner to prevent contamination.

Litigation involving defective medical drugs or devices is a complex area of law. As such, it is important to retain an attorney who has extensive experience in defective medical drug/device litigation.

Pamela A. Borgess, the founder of Borgess Law, LLC, has extensive experience with numerous national high-profile defective medical drug/device cases. For example, Ms. Borgess received national attention when she was the first attorney to file suit regarding the tainted drug, Heparin, which was manufactured by the U.S. drug company at an uninspected facility in China and took the lives of hundreds of innocent Americans in late 2007 and early 2008.  In April of 2008, she was honored to have three of her clients speak before Congress at an investigational hearing entitled, “The Heparin Disaster: Chinese Counterfeits and American Failures.”  Their stories have been featured in various news media, including, but not limited to, ABC Nightly News, Nightline, Time Magazine, CNN and Bloomberg News. As a result of her work in heparin, Ms. Borgess was appointed a top leadership position in In re Heparin Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1953 and helped lead the litigation against Baxter, SPL and other Defendants.

She has also been involved with many other defective medical drug/device litigations including cases involving Yasmin/Yaz®, Actos®, Benicar®, DePuy ASR® Hips, Granuflo®, Lipitor®, Power Morcellators, SSRI Antidepressants, Stryker Hip Implants, Testosterone, Transvaginal Mesh, Zimmer Knees, Xarelto®, Implanon®, Mirena®, Vioxx®, Zofran®, and Depakote®.

As a result of this extensive experience, Attorney Borgess has a specialized knowledge in medicolegal issues, including, but not limited to, understanding and simplifying complex mechanisms of injury and successfully establishing generic and case-specific causation in mass torts.  Her experience has involved many disciplines, including pharmacology, pathology, epidemiology, immunology and biochemistry, as well as all aspects of litigation, including from the early stages of data collection and review, to depositions, Daubert briefing/hearings, and trial.

In light of her expertise and experience, Ms. Borgess has been repeatedly invited to speak on defective medical drug/device litigation, including at the annual national conventions held by the American Association for Justice (“AAJ”) and Mass Torts Made Perfect. In 2009, AAJ honored Ms. Borgess by asking her to act as moderator for their annual “Litigating Toxic Tort, Pharmaceutical and Medical Cases” seminar.

Borgess Law, LLC is currently pursuing or investigating injuries from the following medical drugs and devices:

  • Accutane;
  • ACTOS, ACTOplus met, ACTOplus Met XR and Duetact;
  • Bard IVC Filters;
  • Benicar;
  • Contaminated Steroid Injections;
  • Composix Kugel Mesh Hernia Repair Patches;
  • GranuFlo and NaturalLyte Dialysis Products;
  • Hip and Knee Implants;
  • Implanon;
  • Invokana, Farxiga, Xigdue, Jardiance, Glyxambis and Invokamet;
  • Laproscopic Power Morcellators;
  • Lipitor;
  • Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Leads;
  • Mirena IUDs;
  • Propecia and Proscar;
  • Risperdal;
  • SSRI Antidepressants (Paxil, Celexa, Effexor, Lexapro, Pristiq, Prozac and Zoloft);
  • Stryker Rejuvenate, ABG II, and Accolade Hip Implants;
  • Jude Riata Defibrillator Leads;
  • Testosterone;
  • Transvaginal Mesh, Bladder Slings, and TVT Tape;
  • Viagra;
  • Xarelto and Pradaxa;
  • Zimmer NexGen, CR-Flex, and Persona Knee Implants; and
  • Zofran

For more information about these or other medical drugs or devices, feel free to contact Pharmaceutical/Medical Device Litigation Attorney Pamela A. Borgess of Borgess Law, LLC at (567) 455-5955. You can also contact Borgess Law, LLC by submitting an online inquiry or emailing Attorney Borgess directly at pborgess@BorgessLaw.com. Borgess Law, LLC never charges a fee for an initial consultation.