At first glance, you may not think medical malpractice and product liability have much in common — after all, isn’t one associated with things like exploding cell phones and curling iron burns, while the other has to do with a doctor making a mistake during surgery? Yes, in some cases that’s true. However, what if you have an issue with medication?
There are times when it can be tricky to tell whether an issue you suffer is malpractice or product liability. In such cases, you need to examine the facts very carefully and seek legal assistance in determining what path to take. Learn the core difference between a faulty product case and a medical malpractice suit, and when and how a product liability attorney is helpful.
Crossover Cases
If you are suing the doctor or hospital based on an injury you’ve suffered because a doctor or other healthcare professional made a critical error, in general, the case is medical malpractice. There are, however, certain situations when malpractice and product cases can crossover. Consider, for example, a circumstance where you’re filing suit over a medical device that caused your injury.
You may, depending on the circumstances, be able to sue both the device manufacturer for product liability and the doctor for medical malpractice. You’ll need to make sure that it fits both definitions, however.
Medical Malpractice
There are certain factors you’ll need to prove in order to win a medical malpractice lawsuit. The first is that the doctor behaved in an irresponsible or careless way. The second is that the careless behavior of the doctor is the direct result of your injury. This concept is called negligence.
Product Liability
Product liability doesn’t have anything to do with negligence. In a product liability suit, you need to prove that a product was either defectively marketed, defectively manufactured, or defectively designed and came to market with these defects intact. You must also prove that you were injured and the defective device was the cause of your injury.
Class Action Suits
If a number of people have been injured by the same device, a class action suit may result. In some cases, you and your attorney will be the ones to start this suit, while in others there may already be a class action suit filed and you can just join it. In a class action suit, attorneys will sue the manufacturer on behalf of everyone who has suffered.
In such cases, you have less work to do and less stress, but you may receive less of an individual settlement as well since the final settlement is divided among everyone who is suing.
Calling a Product Liability Attorney
If you find yourself in need of help with separating the issues involved with product law and medical malpractice, the right lawyer can be a huge help. A product liability attorney can help you to sort out the right path to take, help you decide whether to join a class action suit or file your own lawsuit, or whether you’ve got a crossover suit. If you’re struggling to determine what, if any, lawsuit you should file in your case, call Disparti Law for a free consult today.
