TITLE:
The Role of Medical Literature, Clinical Trials and Experimental Research in Drug Product-Injury Litigation: A Primer with Two Examples
AUTHORS:
Jan M. Kitzen, Joseph V. Pergolizzi Jr., Robert Taylor Jr., Robert B. Raffa
KEYWORDS:
Drug Safety, Product Quality, Injury, Litigation, Fen-Phen, Thimerosal
JOURNAL NAME:
Pharmacology & Pharmacy,
Vol.9 No.6,
June
29,
2018
ABSTRACT: When any type of product has been ordered to be
removed from the marketplace by a governmental regulatory body, that action is
a powerful indicator that the product has been determined to be unsafe for
further use, thereby branding the product as defective and opening up the
possibility of product liability litigation. When the product is a drug or
medical device, it is especially serious since the possibility of personal
injury (acute and/or chronic) or death may occur. Needless to say, in these
situations, product injury litigation will almost surely follow. We review the definition and requisite claims needed to establish drug
product liability, and the role that the medical literature, clinical trial
data, and even experimental research data can play in product (drug)-injury litigation. We show how each of these resources played a
significant role in two well-known cases: Fen-Phen and thimerosal. The ultimate
goal of such knowledge is to make better informed decisions about drug safety.