Arkansas Bad Drug Attorney

Why Do We Call Them Bad Drugs?

In many cases, drugs are approved for treatment of a specific medical condition. Prior to approval, the drugs will be tested in clinical trial to determine what side effects the drug causes. Most medications have some sort of side effect, and drug companies are required to provide a label with their products that describe side effects and how common they are. The purpose of this requirement is to allow patients, consumers and healthcare professionals to be fully informed when they choose to take or prescribe a drug.

However, sometimes drug makers fail to disclose known side effects of their drugs, or they do not adequately test their drugs for side effects that are both serious and relatively widespread among people who take the drugs. Drug makers have also been accused of promoting drugs for uses not approved by the FDA (a practice known as “off label” promotion), and without having tested their drugs for these off-label uses. Pharmaceutical companies who have been accused of this practice have paid billions of dollars to the U.S. government in criminal fines and civil penalties.

Aside from government regulation, drugs are products, and as such they are subject to the law of product liability. A drug can be considered bad when it is found to be defective in its design or manufacturer, and when that defect renders it unreasonably dangerous. When these drugs cause injury, injured parties may be eligible to seek compensation for their injuries with the help of an Arkansas bad drug attorney.

Even though the vast majority of medications, when taken as prescribed or indicated, do not cause harm, sometimes people experience serious side effects. When a drug causes harm to a large number of people, drug makers can be liable for injuries—even if the drug has been approved for sale by the FDA.