Types of Compensation Available in a Drug Recall Injury Claim

All personal injury claims typically involve similar forms of compensation available to the victim.  However, claims involving a defective drug or dangerous drug side effects do involve varying types of compensation.  Almost everyone has taken prescription medication at some point in their lives.  Many Americans depend on a regular regime of prescription drugs in order to manage or control serious ailments and infirmities.  This level of dependency can create unforeseen health hazards, especially when large, well-funded pharmaceutical companies choose not to adequately test their product prior to introduction to the market, or when they purposely withhold health warnings in an effort to increase profits. 

Most drug recall injury cases involve a permanent side effect that will require extensive future medical care to treat.  In these cases, a drug recall lawyer must seek the compensation necessary to fund future medical care.  The cost of future medical care in these cases can easily approach $100,000, which is why it is necessary for your lawyer to obtain a clear picture of what is to come.  To do so, your attorney will retain experts in the fields of medicine and economics.  Medical experts will be used to qualify what type of future medical care is needed, which economic experts will put the cost of that future care into "today's dollars."  Without the use of these experts, a drug side-effect injury victim will never obtain fair compensation for a claim.

In addition to future medical car costs, a victim is also entitled to compensation for lost wages and a loss of future earning capacity.  For example, in claims involving Reglan, Seroquel, and other drugs, a victim can be diagnosed with Tardive Dyskinesia.  Diagnosis of tardive dyskinesia is tragic and will cause the victim a future riddled with medical problems, including uncontrollable facial movements and twitching.  Tardive dyskinesia victims commonly lose their jobs due to inability to control their facial movements.  In these cases, it is particularly important for the drug recall lawyer to hire a vocational rehabilitation expert to explain the future wage loss and loss of earning capacity that can make up a large part of any tardive dyskinesia claim.