Dangerous Prescription Drugs
In 2008, 526,527 severe adverse reactions to prescription drugs were reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch hotline. This is the highest total ever reported in a single year to the FDA, but based on the numerous official recalls and unofficial warnings issued for a variety of top-selling drugs, including Vioxx, Celebrex, Bextra and Crestor – that record won’t hold up very long. All of these drugs have been part of a massive and misleading marketing and advertising campaign undertaken by Big Pharma during the past decade to cash in on America’s desire for improved health, one that has caused irreparable harm to thousands of innocent people.
Prescription Drugs Direct Marketing Causing Pain, Suffering and Deaths
Since the late 1990s, there has been a major shift in the way pharmaceutical companies market drugs. Through direct marketing of pharmaceuticals to patients as well as physicians, many patients are being encouraged to buy into newer drugs that provide no legitimate benefits over older and cheaper medications. As Americans are inundated with glossy print and television campaigns on behalf of the latest cure-all, the physician’s role as a knowledgeable filter of medical information and advice has been greatly diminished.
Despite a record number of Americans without adequate health insurance, drug manufacturers are making record profits from the sales of prescription drugs. While many Americans are forced each month to decide between paying their rent and stopping their pain, stringent patent laws and laws prohibiting the import of cheaper foreign-made drugs make the pharmaceuticals industry the most profitable sector of the American economy. With such vast revenues at their disposal, there is no excuse for pharmaceutical companies not spending more time and money researching and testing the dangers of some prescription drugs before making those drugs available to consumers. Based on the revelations of Vioxx, Celebrex, Bextra and other COX-2 inhibitors, it is clear that this is not happening.
While there is not much we can do about the unjustified financial costs of prescription drugs, Americans can assert their legal rights when pharmaceutical companies market drugs that fail to warn them of severe physical or mental side effects. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who took their prescription drugs to get better ended up in far more debilitating conditions. As the impact of pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs in our lives only continues to grow, it is essential to put an end to the “guinea pig” approach that many pharmaceutical companies continue to employ. Those injured or made ill through prescription drugs can help reverse this dangerous trend in a court of law.
Whether you have been taking a prescription drug that is inherently dangerous, or have been prescribed the wrong medication by a doctor, as a consumer you have rights that an experienced attorney can help you exercise to help you recover from your injury. The attorneys of Laufenberg, Stombaugh & Jassak, S.C. have helped many in Wisconsin recover compensation for the severe side effects and illnesses they have suffered from taking dangerous prescription drugs. Today, our attorneys are representing many in Wisconsin who have suffered adverse reactions to prescription drugs as we participate in nationwide class action litigation against several leading pharmaceutical companies.
To join us in our fight to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for their actions, contact our offices for a free legal consultation today.
Library for Dangerous Prescription Drugs: