Invokana is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Moreover, it is just one of the brand names of several prescription medications being investigated for increased risk of Flesh Eating Infections known as Fournier's Gangrene often times requiring amputation and requiring hospitalization. Other brand names are Invokamet, Xigduo XR and Glyxambi.
Manufacturers are supposed to provide adequate warnings and instructions to consumers. A failure to do so is considered a marketing defect that can make a manufacturer, retailer, or distributor liable under a strict liability theory. When a company is strictly liable, it is held accountable for damages arising out of defects regardless of whether it used reasonable care in formulating, manufacturing, or marketing the drug. A marketing defect, such as a failure to warn of serious risks, is a product defect.
Some marketing defect cases require courts to consider whether the risk of injury was obvious. Generally, it is not enough to put an important warning in a dense booklet or in small print. The warning is supposed to be in accessible language and visible so that a consumer would see it.
In the context of pharmaceuticals, however, patients usually rely on their doctors to provide warnings about serious side effects and to monitor them or discontinue use of the drug if there is a high risk of injury from taking a drug. A majority of states recognize the learned intermediary doctrine. This doctrine provides that a manufacturer discharges its duty to provide warnings about the risks connected with a pharmaceutical or medical device by warning prescribing physicians about how to properly use the product and any risks that it carries.
In other words, a manufacturer has a duty to warn the doctor, and if your doctor was warned and did not warn you, it is the doctor who faces potential liability through a medical malpractice lawsuit. This doctrine is based partly on the idea that the prescribing doctor is in a better position to provide a warning and can better assess whether a certain drug would be useful to a particular patient. Moreover, drug manufacturers do not have an easy way to get in touch with each potential patient who might use the product. However, a few states have rejected the learned intermediary doctrine on the grounds that a doctor and a drug manufacturer each have a duty to warn.
If you were hurt because you took Invokana, our product liability lawyers are available to seek compensation for your injuries. Moll Law Group represents injured consumers in states throughout the U.S., such as California, Florida, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. Call us at 312-462-1700 or use our online form to set up a free consultation with an Invokana, Farxiga, Jardiance (SGLT2) attorney.