At Moll Law Group, we are committed to vigorously representing injured victims against some of the most powerful corporations in the world. In addition to seeking major verdicts and substantial settlements for our clients, we bring these cases in order to trigger social change in the form of bans on unsafe products, changed laws, and recalls. Our dedicated product liability and personal injury lawyers represent people nationwide who have been seriously harmed or lost loved ones.
Many of these injuries arise from defective devices, dangerous drugs, medical malpractice, or careless drivers, among other examples. In each case, we invest the time and effort necessary to investigate the situation thoroughly, often consulting with prominent product safety and medical experts. Our goal is to not only provide diligent representation to our clients, but also fuel policy change on a broader level, while providing injury prevention and life-saving information to all consumers across the United States.
A product liability case may be brought against a manufacturer when a consumer or a group of consumers is harmed as a result of a defective item, such as a surgical implant, or a prescription drug, food, or a car component. For example, the auto industry recently has witnessed recalls of vehicles with a certain type of Takata airbag that is prone to explosive deployment, which could cause devastating harm. In another example, Talcum Powder has been incorporated into feminine products and used by consumers for feminine hygiene purposes for decades. In recent years however, litigation has resulted from its use, alleging that victims were never warned that repeated exposure to talcum powder over the long term severely increases a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer.
In general, a product can have one of three types of dangerous defects: a manufacturing, a design, or a marketing (failure to warn) defect. Manufacturing flaws are generally one-off flaws that exist in one item or a very limited number of items in a particular line. They are usually the result of some problem during the process of production.
Design flaws are built into all specimens of a particular product because they exist in the blueprint. There are two tests to establish a design flaw. The first is the consumer expectation test, which makes a manufacturer liable when the danger goes beyond what the ordinary consumer would contemplate when using a particular product. The other is the risk utility test, under which a manufacturer may be held liable if the likelihood of injury and the seriousness of the injury are greater than the cost of an alternative reasonable design and the lessened utility resulting from the modification.
Marketing defects are flaws in the information provided to consumers about a product, such as inadequate warnings or instructions. The danger must be something that is not obvious in order for a duty to warn to be imposed.
Joint replacements, transvaginal mesh, and other medical devices all too often reach the market with flaws in their design or production. When this happens, people who are injured as a result may be able to bring a strict liability claim against the manufacturer. Defects in medical devices can cause their users significant pain and suffering, as well as requiring costly procedures to reverse their harmful effects. An individual bringing a product liability claim on these grounds thus may be able to recover both economic and non-economic damages for the costs and losses that he or she has incurred. At Moll Law Group, we have assisted clients nationwide who have been injured by a wide variety of faulty medical devices.
Bair Hugger therapy devices, which are used during surgery to maintain a patient’s body temperature through a forced-air system that connects to a specially designed blanket, are alleged to have caused severe hospital acquired infections in numerous patients. The air circulated through the device and over a patient’s body can carry germs and bacteria that land on the exposed surgical site, leading to infections requiring further surgery and even amputation.
IVC filters are implanted into the veins for the purpose of preventing blood clots from traveling into the lungs, which can lead to a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism. Many lawsuits allege, however, that these devices fail to remain intact or in place, breaking and moving throughout the body. Patients who have used IVC filters, along with their loved ones, claim that these defects have led to damage to major organs, stoke, and even death.
Transvaginal mesh lawsuits involve claims by women who have had these devices implanted primarily to treat pelvic organ prolapse, and who have later experienced severe complications including erosion of the mesh. These injuries, which have often resulted in follow-up surgeries to remove the devices and repair related damage, have led to debilitating and lifelong health issues for tens of thousands of women across the country.
These and other products created by the health care industry have generated claims nationwide by patients and their families after they have suffered tragic injuries and even loss of life. At Moll Law Group, we are here to help those victims seek justice and begin to rebuild their lives.
Pharmaceutical companies are expected to provide consumers with safe products that have been carefully researched and designed. If certain side effects are associated with the use of a drug, its manufacturer is responsible for warning about them. If these warnings are absent, or if a drug has not been properly tested before its release, consumers may find themselves suffering from devastating physical or mental conditions that they would not have developed otherwise. As a result, many product liability cases are brought against pharmaceutical companies, seeking the damages that victims deserve.
Some common examples in recent years include cases arising from diabetes medications, psychiatric drugs, and other prescriptions.
Actos is a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, but which has become the subject of extensive litigation related to claims that patients using that medication have developed bladder cancer as a result. Victims or their loved ones have also alleged heart failure in some cases. Given these life-threatening potential side effects, lawsuits related to Actos have arisen across the country.
Invokana (SGLT2) is another drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, and was put on the market to help patients regulate kidney functioning. Sadly, the resulting lawsuits have alleged that people who have been administered that drug have suffered from a variety of serious side effects, including bone fractures, heart attack, kidney failure, ketoacidosis, stroke, heart attack, and death.
Similarly, Onglyza (sexaglyptin) is a diabetes type 2 drug prescribed to help patients lower their blood sugar. However, pending legal claims state that people taking this drug have later experienced injuries including pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, and heart failure.
Risperdal is an antipsychotic drug that has historically been used to treat conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, lawsuits allege that its maker pushed doctors to prescribe it on a large scale to children with ADHD, though the drug had not yet been FDA approved for children. Victims primarily claim that this drug has caused gynecomastia, or the enlargement of breast tissue in boys, a condition requiring surgical procedures to correct.
Xarelto, an anti-coagulent or “blood thinner” medication, has been prescribed to thousands of people for the purpose of preventing blood clots and strokes. Unfortunately its use has led to thousands of reports to the FDA of injury, related typically to uncontrolled bleeding or hemorrhaging, which has led to death in some cases. Xarelto does not have an antidote, which victims allege created a greater risk of harm than they were warned of when they were prescribed this drug.
The anti-nausea medicine Zofran has also been the source of countless legal claims. Though this drug has been prescribed for many years to patients to prevent nausea and vomiting after surgery or cancer treatments, it has also been prescribed for the “off-label” purpose of preventing morning sickness in tens of thousands of pregnant women. Lawsuits allege that injuries arising from Zofran’s use primarily include serious birth defects such as cardiac malformations.
These and other drugs have caused physical, emotional, and financial harm to countless individuals and families throughout the United States. At Moll Law Group we are here to listen to your story, explain your options to you, and help you take action if you may be entitled to compensation.
As much as we trust health care professionals to provide us with thorough and diligent care, not all of them meet this standard. When a patient is hurt because a doctor, nurse, or hospital staff member acted carelessly, a medical malpractice claim may be a useful option to pursue. This usually requires introducing testimony from an expert witness on the level of care that the defendant should have observed and what the defendant did that fell short of the appropriate standard and harmed the patient.
Some of the most common forms of medical malpractice include surgical errors, which can occur when a doctor does not perform a procedure with the same degree of skill and care as a reasonable surgeon operating on a similarly situated patient. While not every surgery produces an ideal result, egregious mistakes in the operating room can and should expose a doctor and hospital to liability. Mistakes involving anesthesia also are common, as are instances of gross negligence in emergency rooms that fall below the standard of care appropriate in that setting.
Before reaching the treatment phase, a physician may seriously harm a patient by making an unreasonable mistake during the diagnostic process. The victims of a misdiagnosis or an improperly delayed diagnosis may suffer far more harm than if their treating doctor had used the appropriate care. In some tragic cases, the consequences of a misdiagnosis may be fatal. When this happens, the family of the patient may be able to bring a wrongful death claim to pursue damages for the loss of their loved one.
One of the most devastating forms of medical malpractice affects the youngest and some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Health care providers who are responsible for guiding a woman through childbirth make avoidable errors all too often. The results can be painful and irreversible, ranging from joint deformation and cerebral palsy to intellectual disabilities and organ failure. Parents who have endured this traumatic experience typically have the opportunity to pursue a birth injury claim against the medical professional who was responsible for harming their child. Similar to other malpractice cases, expert testimony usually will play a key role in establishing the elements of the claim, such as how the defendant’s carelessness led to the child’s injuries.
One of the hardest things for a parent to do is to leave their child’s care in the hands of a practical stranger. We trust that daycare centers abide by and implement the rules and regulations of child safety to keep our children safe from physical and psychological harm. Too many children suffer from choking, drowning, falls from playground equipment, abusive behavior, physical abuse and restraint, and numerous other causes of serious and life-altering injuries. State laws and legislations were enacted to prevent children from any harm caused from the negligence and intentional acts of workers and supervisors at daycare centers. Parents are not only entitled to recover compensation when injuries occur but they may also recover exemplary compensation meant to prevent childcare center injuries from recurring.
Elderly individuals are another particularly vulnerable population, especially since they are often isolated and may not be able to effectively communicate their concerns. Abuse and negligence is more widespread in nursing homes than anyone with family members in them wants to imagine. Fortunately, however, statutory and common-law causes of action may be available to hold these facilities accountable with the assistance of a personal injury lawyer when their residents are harmed physically, emotionally, or financially. Even if the wrongdoing can be traced to a single employee, the nursing home may be vicariously liable for damages if the individual was acting in the scope and course of his or her employment.
Motor vehicle collisions happen every day on Illinois roads. While less common, train wrecks and plane crashes may be even more lethal. These accidents often give rise to negligence claims based on the standard four elements of duty, breach, causation, and damages. In contrast to the standard of care applied in medical malpractice cases, the standard used in transportation accident claims is defined more broadly as the level of care that a reasonable person would use in the defendant’s position. If the victim was partly responsible for causing the crash, he or she still may be able to receive a reduced damages award that is proportionate to the defendant’s degree of fault.
Life-changing harm may result from exposure to dangerous chemicals that are released into the air, water, or ground. For example, asbestos exposure may lead to a particularly intractable form of cancer known as mesothelioma, while polluted groundwater may harm the inhabitants of an entire residential area. These cases often are brought as class actions because a single defendant’s negligence tends to affect a large group of people in a similar manner. Consolidating their cases tends to promote consistent resolutions to the highly technical issues that arise.
Also known as slip and fall cases, premises liability claims often hinge on the level of care that the property owner owed to a person who was hurt on its premises. As long as the victim was legally on the property, he or she has a right to expect the owner to inspect it for dangerous conditions and fix or warn of any hazards that were discovered. Constructive knowledge generally may be imputed to a property owner, which means that it may be held accountable for dangerous conditions of which it should have known, even if it was not actually aware of them. While trespassers are generally owed a much lesser duty of care, property owners may be required to take reasonable measures to protect the safety of children who may foreseeably trespass on their premises.
The injury attorneys at Moll Law Group are skilled in guiding people throughout the U.S. through medical malpractice, product liability, motor vehicle collision, and other accident claims. We can represent accident victims throughout the Chicago area, including in Naperville, Wheaton, Schaumburg, and communities across Cook County. Moll Law Group also can bring product liability cases in other states nationwide, including Texas, California, Florida, and New York. Call us at 312-462-1700 or contact us via our online form to set up a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer.