When you take a medication, you expect to get better, or at least experience relief from some of your symptoms. But many people can actually end up feeling worse—or develop new complications when taking a medication. How can patients know if they’ve experienced a drug injury or are simply experiencing a common side effect?
The difference is typically in the severity of the complications and the drug company’s willingness to be transparent about those complications. For example, side effects are:
- Typically mild, although they can be severe
- Well-documented by the drug company and disclosed to doctors and patients
- Discovered during clinical trials and testing phases and included in drug-related literature
Drug injuries, on the other hand, are:
- Potentially mild but more likely to be severe
- Poorly documented or not documented at all
- Not disclosed to doctors and patients, or their severity and frequency are downplayed
It often comes down to how drug companies test their medications and how they respond when they discover potential complications. Drug companies spend billions of dollars researching and developing medications, and serious side effects can make it difficult for them to recoup their investments. When they hide complications, they put patients at risk of health problems and open themselves up to litigation.
If you or someone you love suffered a serious side effect or complication after taking a medication, you may have suffered a drug injury. It’s important to have an experienced drug injury lawyer investigate what happened. Contact Ferrer Poirot Feller Daniel today for a free consultation.