Defective Medical Devices: Multiple Defendants And Multiple Causes Of Action

Surgical procedures in which a medical device or implant is placed inside the patient’s body are routine procedures that occur every day in New York.  Common implantable devices are cardioverter defibrillators, breast implants, artificial hips, pacemakers, screws, pins, and rods for back repair and bone fractures, stents, and even artificial eye lenses.

Experienced New York medical malpractice attorneys know that plaintiffs must name all the possible defendants and allege all the valid causes of action in order to receive the appropriate compensation for a patient’s injuries.

One reason the medical malpractice cases are so difficult is because multiple parties may be liable for your injuries.  The company who manufactured the device, the device distributor, surgeons who operated upon you, nurses, assistants, and even hospitals could each be liable for different reasons in relation to the negligent care given to one single patient.  This is true even when there was only one negligent procedure.

If a device manufacturer either defectively designed a device, or negligently manufactured a device, and such was the cause of your injuries, you can hold the makers responsible to pay your damages.  In short, if the device was not an accepted and suitable item in which your ailment should be properly treated, whether ineffective to treat the condition or because adverse side effects outweigh the benefit of the device, you may have valid products liability case.  Defects can even be cause by a failure to provide adequate warnings and to notify of side effects caused by the device.

The doctor’s who installed the device may be liable as well.  If the medical professional installed the device improperly, or if the doctors knew that the device was not adequate to treat your condition, or perhaps when the doctors knew that the device would cause unwarranted adverse side effects, a cause of action founded in medical negligence may be proper.

If hospital administrators knew that a device was no longer an accepted course of treatment in the industry, but nonetheless still approved the use of such devices in medical procedures, the hospital may be negligent as well.

You see then that one case could involve product liability founded in defective design/manufacture, the negligence of a medical professional, and the negligence of a medical facility.  Only the experienced medical malpractice attorney knows how to investigate a medical malpractice claim so that the responsible parties are discovered and added to a claim.

Remember, parties in the medical device industry and medical providers owe you a duty of proper and adequate care consistent with accepted practice in the field.  If one of these parties breaches this duty and the breach was the proximate cause of your injuries, then you can receive compensation for your damages.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.