The Increasing Number of Fosamax Lawsuits
While the number of people suffering from adverse side effects of Fosamax continues to grow so does the number of lawsuits filed against Merck. Fosamax patients from around the country are now seeking for financial settlement to compensate health expenses due to the harmful side effects brought by the drug.
To date, Fosamax is one of the most popular drugs prescribed for osteoporosis in the U.S. and is prescribed on average over 22 million times per year. Merck & Co. has a gross annual income of $3 billion from Fosamax alone. But, in September of 2004, FDA warned health care providers and physicians of the correlation of Fosamax and a condition known as osteonecrosis of the jaw.
After the FDA warnings, several studies related to the subject were conducted. One study reported that 88,000 people who took bisphosphonates had nearly three times the risk of developing osteonecrosis compared to those who had not taken bisphosphonates.
Because of the harmful side effects brought my Fosamax, product liability attorneys are now in demand. But before any fosamax users can file a lawsuit, they must prove first that they have been injured or suffered some other kind of damage; that the product involved in their case was somehow defective or lacked proper warnings; that the defect (or lack of proper warnings or instructions) was the specific cause of their injuries; and, that when they were injured, they were using the injury-causing product more or less in the manner in which it was intended.
Fosamax victims should be aware that in a product liability case they would probably rely on strict liability and the lack of warnings as has been most successfully used in previous cases. Damages can be categorized as compensatory and punitive. Compensatory damages are designed to restore the victim to the way he/she was before the injury, while punitive ones are damages awarded by the judge to punish the manufacturer and to deter others from doing the same thing.
Filing a Fosamax lawsuit is not easy because legal and medical issues in Fosamax cases are sophisticated and complex. It is advised that those who have plans to file a case should hire a lawyer who specializes in products liability litigation or those ones who have experience in handling Fosamax cases.
Photo Credit: umich.edu
To date, Fosamax is one of the most popular drugs prescribed for osteoporosis in the U.S. and is prescribed on average over 22 million times per year. Merck & Co. has a gross annual income of $3 billion from Fosamax alone. But, in September of 2004, FDA warned health care providers and physicians of the correlation of Fosamax and a condition known as osteonecrosis of the jaw.
After the FDA warnings, several studies related to the subject were conducted. One study reported that 88,000 people who took bisphosphonates had nearly three times the risk of developing osteonecrosis compared to those who had not taken bisphosphonates.
Because of the harmful side effects brought my Fosamax, product liability attorneys are now in demand. But before any fosamax users can file a lawsuit, they must prove first that they have been injured or suffered some other kind of damage; that the product involved in their case was somehow defective or lacked proper warnings; that the defect (or lack of proper warnings or instructions) was the specific cause of their injuries; and, that when they were injured, they were using the injury-causing product more or less in the manner in which it was intended.
Fosamax victims should be aware that in a product liability case they would probably rely on strict liability and the lack of warnings as has been most successfully used in previous cases. Damages can be categorized as compensatory and punitive. Compensatory damages are designed to restore the victim to the way he/she was before the injury, while punitive ones are damages awarded by the judge to punish the manufacturer and to deter others from doing the same thing.
Filing a Fosamax lawsuit is not easy because legal and medical issues in Fosamax cases are sophisticated and complex. It is advised that those who have plans to file a case should hire a lawyer who specializes in products liability litigation or those ones who have experience in handling Fosamax cases.
Photo Credit: umich.edu
