Morgantown Defective Medical Device Attorney
Injured by a Pacemaker, Mesh, or Implant in West Virginia?
The Law Firm You Can Trust
FREE CONSULTATION – NO FEE UNLESS YOU WIN
If you or a loved one have suffered a serious injury or death you believe was caused by a defective medical device, contact Angotti & Straface Attorneys at Law in Morgantown. Since 1952, our civil trial attorneys have provided proven legal counsel and representation for victims of dangerous pacemakers, defibrillators, mesh patches, and other harmful medical devices. We offer a free initial consultation to help injured West Virginians learn more about available legal options which may include eligibility to pursue significant financial compensation. If you are too ill to visit our office, we can come to your home or hospital bedside. Call now to schedule: (304) 292-4381.
Request a FREE Case Evaluation
What Is a Medical Device?
The term medical device broadly describes any product specifically used by a doctor or medical provider to prevent, diagnose, or treat a medical condition, injury, or illness. Medical devices can include everything from products with the lowest risk of adverse effects and death such as bandages and enemas (Class I devices exempt from FDA regulation) to pregnancy tests and crutches (Class II devices), to those with a risk of causing serious injury or death, such as life-sustaining or implantable products such as internal defibrillators and breast implants (FDA-regulated Class III devices).
Common Types of Defective Class III Medical Devices
Advancements in medical science and technology have provided countless patients with relief from a wide range of injuries, illnesses, and medical conditions. Unfortunately, millions have suffered serious injury and tens of thousands have lost their lives as a result of defective medical devices over the past ten years. These Class III devices are known to pose a potentially unreasonable risk of serious bodily harm or death. Therefore, they require FDA approval before they can be placed into use; however, defects often occur during the design, manufacture, and marketing that make these devices either unreasonably dangerous or not safe for their intended use. These Class III medical devices include joint and body part replacements, stents, pacemakers, birth control devices, and many other surgically implantable products and tools used to support health objectives.
Hip/Knee Implants and Replacements – DePuy, Biomet Magnum, Stryker, and other brands of joint replacements have caused cobalt metal poisoning and other serious injuries due to unacceptably high rates of product failure.
Essure Birth Control Implant – This device has failed to perform as intended for numerous women, as well as migrating from the implant site and causing serious allergic reactions.
Transvaginal Mesh – This surgical mesh has been used to treat uterine prolapse and urinary incontinence, but its notoriously high failure rate has caused thousands of women to experience organ perforation and serious bodily injury.
Hernia Mesh and Patches – Ethicon Physiomesh and Kugel Mesh hernia repair patches have been proven ineffective and dangerous – leading to potentially fatal bowel perforation and intractable pain.
IVC Blood Clot Filters – Despite being designed to prevent blood clots from reaching the lungs, defective Bard OVC blood clot filters have instead caused numerous injuries and fatalities.
Da Vinci Robotic Surgery – This controversial surgical assistant has caused serious injuries to patients, including bodily harm resulting from camera failure and leaving foreign objects such as graphite and metal inside patients’ bodies.
Defective medical devices also include:
- St. Jude Defibrillators
- Knee & Hip Replacements
- Bair Hugger Blankets (used in surgery)
- Bone Cement
- Breast Implants
- Bone Grafts (male sterility)
- Pain Pump Catheters
- Paragard IUDs
- Power Morcellators (spread cancer during fibroid removal)
- Shoulder Pain Pumps
- Vial2Bag Fluid Transfer Systems
- Smith & Nephew Hip Liners
- St. Jude Eon Mini Neurostimulators
- Medtronic Dual Chamber Implantable Pulse Generators
- and many more
Symptoms of Defective Medical Devices
If you have had any type of implantable device inserted into your body, or an invasive surgery or medical procedure, you may have been exposed to a dangerous medical device; however, you must have suffered a serious injury (or lost a loved one) to be eligible to pursue compensation for your losses, pain and suffering. Some of the most common symptoms that may indicate that something is wrong include considerable, ongoing pain, bleeding, or bruising at or near the affected site, or the onset of a sudden, unexplained medical condition following the procedure. Some side effects cannot be anticipated. If you believe you may have been exposed to a defective medical device with subtle side effects (such as sterility following implantation of bone grafts), you may browse the FDA’s online catalog of serious medical device recalls to find out if you may have been exposed to one of the dangerous products. If so, you may wish to pursue testing to determine if your health may have, in fact, been compromised.
Are You Eligible for Financial Compensation for Your Losses, Pain & Suffering?
Victims of defective medical devices may be eligible to seek justice and recover financial compensation for a wide range of losses, pain, and suffering caused by these devices. Our firm has recovered many millions of dollars for our clients. If you believe you have been affected, do not hesitate to contact Angotti & Straface Attorneys at Law. We pursue the maximum financial compensation allowed by law for the injured and family members who have wrongfully lost a loved one in Charleston, Huntington, Parkersburg, Morgantown, Wheeling, and throughout West Virginia. You pay nothing unless your case is successfully resolved. To request a free legal consultation, contact Angotti & Straface Attorneys at Law at: (304) 292-4381.
Can’t come to us? We will come to you.