Bad Drugs Attorney South Carolina

If you believe a prescription drug or medical device has caused a serious injury or worsened your condition, take these steps right away:

1. Seek immediate medical care. Inform your doctor about the product and document all symptoms and diagnoses.
2. Stop using the drug or device only under medical supervision.
3. Preserve everything: keep the drug packaging, pharmacy labels, instructions, receipts, or the physical device itself (if removed).
4. Document your symptoms: take photos, keep a journal, and track your appointments and medications.
5. Request your full medical records to create a timeline of your treatment and complications.
6. Speak with a defective drug and medical device attorney to protect your legal rights before engaging with the manufacturer or insurer.

Liability in defective drug or device cases can fall on multiple parties depending on how the injury occurred. These may include:

• Manufacturers who designed a defective product or failed to warn about known risks.
• Pharmaceutical companies that misled healthcare providers through marketing.
• Testing laboratories that improperly tested the safety of the product.
• Doctors or hospitals that used the product negligently or off-label.
• Pharmacists who misfilled a prescription or provided the wrong instructions.

In many instances, product liability claims are part of mass torts or MDLs (multi-district litigation), where injured people file individual claims that are coordinated federally.

To hold a party legally accountable, we must prove they knew, or should have known, about the hazard and failed to address it in a reasonable timeframe.

Victims of defective drugs or faulty medical devices may be eligible to pursue compensation for:

• Medical bills, including surgeries, rehabilitation, and ongoing care
• Lost income or diminished earning capacity due to disability
• Pain and suffering: physical, emotional, and psychological
• Loss of quality of life or permanent impairment
• Wrongful death damages for surviving family members
• Punitive damages (when manufacturers showed reckless disregard for safety

Avoid these common errors after discovering a defective medical product harmed you:

• Discarding the drug, device, or packaging
• Failing to follow up with medical care or recommendations
• Talking to the drug manufacturer’s legal team or signing anything
• Relying on FDA approval as a defense for the product’s safety
• Posting about your injury on social media
• Waiting too long to file a claim: product liability cases have strict deadlines

In South Carolina, product liability claims, including those for defective drugs and medical devices, generally must be filed within three years of the date the injury occurred or was reasonably discovered. This “discovery rule” allows additional time in cases where harm is not immediately apparent.

However, certain circumstances can affect your deadline. For example:

• Claims involving minors or incapacitated individuals may be tolled (paused)
• If a wrongful death results from a defective product, the clock may start at the date of death

Consult with an attorney promptly to avoid missing critical deadlines.

Yes. FDA approval does not shield manufacturers from liability. Many approved drugs or devices are later recalled after reports of harm. Companies are still responsible for design flaws, inadequate warnings, or improper testing.

In a class action, plaintiffs share a single case and any compensation is divided equally. In a mass tort, each person files an individual claim, but similar cases are grouped together for efficiency. This means your damages are evaluated based on your unique injuries.

These cases are complex and can take months to several years. The timeline depends on the severity of the injury, the number of victims, whether the product is part of an MDL, and how cooperative the manufacturer is in negotiations or litigation.

Yes. A recall doesn’t automatically entitle you to compensation, nor does it protect your rights. Legal action is still required to recover damages, and an experienced attorney can help build a strong case based on your injury and the recalled product.

Absolutely. If a manufacturer, doctor, or pharmacy failed to provide proper risk information and you suffered harm as a result, you may have a failure-to-warn claim. These are one of the most common types of product liability cases in the medical field.