Defective Medical Device Lawyers in Ohio

Ohio Defective Medical Device Lawyers

You expect medical devices to improve your health, not harm it. But hip replacements, heart stents, and more are all prone to error. These errors can be due to a doctor’s mistake, a hospital oversight, or even a manufacturer defect. If you find yourself injured by a medical device, you deserve to know your rights and legal options.

Reach out to an experienced Ohio product liability attorney from Kisling, Nestico & Redick today.

Our team has the skill and resources to guide you and recover max compensation for your various losses. We offer 100% free consults, charge nothing upfront, and are ready to help. Contact KNR at 1-800-HURT-NOW today.

What Is a Defective Medical Device?

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a medical device is an instrument, apparatus, machine, or similar article that includes a part that is intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure a disease, as well as physically influence the function or structure of the human body.

Medical devices almost always require routine checks and maintenance to ensure they are functioning properly. Devices that need to be implanted in a patient’s body must be monitored regularly. Even when medical devices are utilized correctly, they can injure a patient because of a negligence-related defect. When a poorly designed or manufactured device fails inside the body, the consequences can be severe, and the law may let you hold the responsible parties accountable through a product liability claim.

Types of Medical Device Defects

There are numerous medical devices on the market, and any of them can become dangerous when a defect goes unnoticed. The most common medical devices that may cause serious injury, health effects, or death if defective include:

• Pacemakers and defibrillators- Small implanted devices that help control abnormal heart rhythms are known as pacemakers and defibrillators.
• Hearing aids- Hearing aids are devices worn in or behind the ears that pick up and amplify sound to improve hearing.
• Breast implants- Saline-filled or silicone gel-filled breast implants alter the size, shape, and contour of a woman’s breasts.
• Contraceptive devices- Contraceptive devices such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) are designed to prevent pregnancy.
• Hip implants- Hip implants are necessary for patients undergoing hip replacement surgery.
• Insulin pumps- Insulin pumps are devices used to administer insulin to treat diabetes and manage blood sugar.
• Heart stents- Heart stents assist in keeping coronary arteries open and reduce the risk of a heart attack.
• Transvaginal mesh- Transvaginal mesh is a net-like implant used to treat women suffering from urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.

A defect in any one of these devices can turn a routine treatment into a serious injury, which is why it helps to understand how these failures happen.

How Medical Device Defects Happen

There are certain reasons why medical device defects happen more often than other product malfunctions. Some typical ways medical devices malfunction or become defective include:

• Failure to properly label the medical device, so patients and providers do not have the information they need to use it safely.
• Medical device design defects that make a product unsafe even when it is built and used correctly.
• Failure to follow medical device warranties or the manufacturer’s own safety specifications.
• Lack of warning regarding dangers surrounding medical devices, leaving patients unaware of known risks.
• Defective medical device manufacturing, where a flaw is introduced during production.
• Inadequate or incomplete medical device instructions that lead to improper use or implantation.

Examples of Defective Medical Devices in Ohio

Under the worst conditions, virtually any medical device could be defective or malfunction. However, some medical devices have more well-known defects than others. The examples below have each been the subject of recalls or litigation. Some notable examples of medical device recalls and lawsuits include:

• Hip implants
• Metal hip replacements
• Hernia mesh
• Transvaginal mesh
• CPAP machines
• Drug coated stents
• IVC blood clot filters
• Da Vinci surgical robot injuries
• Pacemakers and defibrillators
• Cobalt toxicity
• Metallosis injuries

If you were hurt by one of these devices or another product, our lawyers can also help with dangerous drug and drug injury claims and related faulty artificial joints and implants matters.

Defective Medical Devices Cause Harm

The injuries defective medical devices cause depend on the device and its use. For instance, in cases involving defective hip implants, the grinding of the titanium ball joint has led to metal fragments entering the patient’s body, causing adverse health issues.

Defective medical devices have been known to cause:

• Organ loss
• Infection
• Allergic reaction
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Tissue or bone damage
• Chronic pain
• Permanent disability

Because these injuries can be permanent and expensive to treat, it is worth understanding both how they are treated and how the law lets you seek compensation.

Treating Injuries or Illness Caused by Defective Medical Devices

The way your illness or injury will be treated will vary based on several factors, such as:

• Your overall health
• The type of defective medical device
• The type of injury or illness you sustained
• Other environmental factors

For example, some patients may require the removal or replacement of a defective medical device. Others may require prescription medications, revision surgery, physical therapy, and other treatments to address the symptoms associated with a defective medical device.

If a defect harmed you, do not wait to get answers about your legal rights. Call our Ohio product liability lawyers at 1-800-HURT-NOW for a free, no-pressure consultation.

How to Prove a Defective Medical Device Claim in Ohio

When pursuing a defective medical device lawsuit or claim, you must prove that the medical device was defective, either in its design, manufacturing, or marketing. Once a device has been shown to be defective, you can determine who is liable for the harm it caused. To recover compensation, you generally need to establish four elements:

Duty of Care

The manufacturer, distributor, or another party in the chain owed you a duty to provide a reasonably safe product and adequate warnings about its risks.

Breach of Duty

That party breached the duty by designing, manufacturing, or marketing the device in a defective way, such as releasing a product with a known flaw or failing to warn of a danger.

Causation

The defect, and not some unrelated condition, was the direct cause of your injury. Identifying where the negligence occurred in the process can be a complicated task, which is why thorough investigation matters.

Damages

You suffered real harm, such as medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering, as a result of the defective device.