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Due to the rapidly advancing field of medical technology, people are living longer and are equipped to fight illness and disease that would have been a sure death just a short fifteen or twenty years ago. Medical devices are relied on heavily by doctors, technicians, nurses and a wealth of other professionals to diagnose, treat and monitor the health and illnesses of their patients.

The field of medical technology is growing rapidly to equip our physicians and their staff with the means to accurately diagnose and treat illness and disease. When a defective medical device is placed on the market, it affects anyone who is somehow directly connected to the faulty device. Some examples of those affected are:

• Patients

• Nurses

• Technicians

• Doctors

• Equipment Sales Reps

• Investors

Known Defects

It is hard to believe that any medical equipment manufacturer would intentionally place a defective device on the market. But, the fact is that it does happen more often than you would think. People are suffering, and in some cases dying, from the use of this equipment.

Cancer Diagnosis and Defective Medical Devices

In the United States, cancer is still misdiagnosed in about twenty percent of medical cases. The result is that patients who do not have the deadly disease undergo unnecessary treatments and surgeries, then discover it was all for nothing. On the other hand, cancer patients are being told they do not have the disease, when in fact they do. They go untreated and the cancer spreads becoming even more dangerous and often untreatable and fatal.

Defective medical devices are responsible for a large part of these mistakes. The equipment used to diagnose cancer has a 30% margin of error. The more doctors rely on these defective medical devices, the more serious risks are posed to patients' health.

Defective Silicone Breast Implants

Another defective medical device and one of the most famous was the original silicone breast implants. Many of those implant surgeries were performed on women who had undergone mastectomies for breast cancer. After undergoing the treatments and surgeries for cancer, the women who received these defective implants either had to have them removed, or they became seriously ill from the implants. Many women not only endured the pain and stress of cancer and breast removal, but doubly suffered when they became ill from the implants and then had to have them removed as well.

Consumer Rights

It is the duty of the manufacturer to ensure that their products are safe for public use. They are also obligated to warn consumers of potential hazards that may result from using their product. Most states now allow for compensation due to injury from a defective medical device. Compensation may include one or more of these reimbursements:

• Coverage of medical expenses

• Recovery of lost wages

• Compensation for pain, suffering and mental anguish

• Loss of physical ability or capacity

• Personal Injury

• Wrongful death

If you have been injured, or know someone who has suffered an injury or death as the result of a defective medical device, contact Burke, Harvey & Frankowski who is committed to helping you obtain the information and compensation you are entitled to.