If you have medical insurance, when you hip implant, heart defibrillator, or other medical device goes wrong or becomes subject to a recall, your insurer will generally pay all or most of the costs of repair, replacement, or ongoing medical therapies needed to deal with the defect. The past decade has seen a large number of costly, high profile recalls and lawsuits related to defective medical devices.
The metal-on-metal hip replacement implants have been a particularly prominent news item in recent years. The recall of Riata heart defibrillator leads from St. Jude Medicalhas been another costly debacle. Tens of thousands of patients still have the leads implanted in their bodies. Extraction and replacement of the Riata hear defibrillator leads presents extremely high risk to many already vulnerable patients. So health officials have recommended ongoing testing of the patients to keep track of the status of their Riata heart defibrillator leads. The costs of the tests for so many patients are mounting into the millions of dollars.
Personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits based upon the effects of defective medical devices also add to the cost of the defects.
Who pays for all the ongoing costs related to defective medical devices?
Your insurer will pay for some or all of the reasonable cost of ongoing therapies, repair, or replacement related to the medical device defect. But usually only if you can actually prove that your costs are reasonable and related to the defect. The mounting costs related to recalled medical devices and medical device failures and injuries has put many profit-conscious insurers on the defensive.
The insurers are becoming reluctant to pay. And they are looking more and more to specialized firms that turn around and attempt to extract the insurers’ costs from the manufacturers that made the defective medical devices in the first place. This process is called subrogation and is becoming increasingly popular. It’s not always successful.
The device manufacturers have highly paid defense teams and are experienced in dispersing the blame when medical devices fail. For instance, some blame the surgeons that installed the devices. Others blame the patients for having pre-existing medical conditions like obesity and diabetes that affect the devices’ performance.
You need a skillful Texas medical device injury attorney to represent you and win your financial recompense if you’ve suffered injury
In order to discover the extent of your medical device injury and how much you could recover from insurers and the manufacturer to pay the costs of your harm, it is critical that you seek qualified and competent medical and legal advice. Our Board Certified Texas medical device injury attorneys at Denena & Points could hold the device manufacturer and marketer responsible for your injuries’ costs. We could win you the just financial compensation you need to address the harm caused by the defective medical device and improve your quality of life.
If you have been harmed by the failure of an implanted medical device, you have the legal right to monetary damages to cover the costs of the injury. The experienced Texas medical device injury attorneys at Denena & Points know how to deal with the big manufacturers that made your device. We have long-term, practical experience dealing with the big insurers that pay for their harm. Read our FAQs and library articles to find answers to all the urgent questions you may have about your injury.
Then call the Board Certified Texas medical device injury attorneys at Denena & Points or contact us online to begin your free, no-obligation legal consultation. We take our cases on a contingency fee basis. So you don’t pay any attorneys’ fees unless we win your claim for you.