Posted on Nov 07, 2013
Currently, there are tens of thousands of cases based on medical device injuries or deaths in the legal pipeline awaiting settlement or trial. Our Houston medical implant injury lawyers note that there are more than 5,000 cases just for injuries from vaginal mesh implants as well as thousands of cases based on problems with metal-on-metal hip replacements.
The use of medical devices, from hip implants to stents to pacemakers and bone grafts continues to increase yearly. Medical devices are a multi-billion dollar industry. So profitable, in fact, that the U.S. government has levied a special excise tax on makers of the devices to help pay for the disastrous Affordable Healthcare Act.
Medical device injury reporting requirements are somewhat vague. Some of those requirements are voluntary. Deaths are required to be reported. But often injuries or deaths are attributed to the effects of the injuries (lacerations or infections for instance) rather than to the devices themselves. So our Houston medical implant injury lawyers emphasize that medical device injury and fatality cases are underreported.
A report from the U.K. (Martin Beckford, telegraph.co.uk, 11/6/13) was just released saying that there, the number of serious injuries and deaths from medical devices rose by 29% just in the last year. In 2010, the number of incidents rose by 13%, with a 50% rise in fatalities. But the numbers look like they get underreported there as well. The account says that for 2010, there were 10,280 adverse incidents of which 301 were fatalities and 2,382 were serious injuries.
Way back in 2004, U.S. researchers estimated about 454,383 annual injuries from medical devices. The devices were responsible for about 58,000 hospitalizations, but the numbers did not include people. The numbers were based on a study of emergency room visits, so they did not include patients who were already in the hospital, as many of them were, at the time they experienced their adverse event.
The researchers from the U.S. FDA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission specifically said that the large number of injuries might be understated because the study counted only patients treated in emergency rooms. The reporting system would have missed cases treated in doctors’ offices or clinics. Even injuries occurring in hospitals would have likely been treated elsewhere than the emergency room, according to the researchers. (news-medical.net, 9/10/04)
Our Houston medical implant injury lawyers can’t emphasize enough the importance of doing your research before you accept a recommended medical device implant. So many highly recommended and widely touted devices have caused endless pain and suffering for the patients who received them.
Contact us when You or Your Loved One needs Help after a Medical Device Injury
The Houston medical implant injury lawyers at Denena Points, PC offer a free and confidential legal consultation, without obligation, to discuss the accident and evaluate your eligibility for a full financial recovery for your injuries or losses. Our more than 12 years of experience could guide you in making informed decisions about your financial future after a serious accident. And we never charge attorneys fees unless we win your case for you. Call us at 713-807-9500 or fill out our online contact form to schedule your free legal consultation.
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