Defective products

What is a faulty or defective medical product?

A claim for compensation arising from a defective medical product lawsuit is different from a claim in medical negligence because with a defective product, the claim is usually brought against the manufacturer of the product rather than the medical practitioner who used the product.

There are some cases, however, where the line between medical negligence and product liability law can become blurred, such as where it can be argued that a medical practitioner ought not to have recommended or used a certain product because they ought to have known that it was faulty or substandard.

If successful in a defective product action, you can receive damages for the pain and suffering, medical and out-of-pocket expenses, and economic loss resulting from the injury caused by the defective product.

Defective product cases are often litigated as part of a class action as they frequently affect more than one person.

Examples of defective product claims in the medical sphere include claims concerning faulty contraceptive devices such as IUDs, faulty hip or knee implants, faulty artificial heart valves and faulty medical equipment used during surgery.

Slater and Gordon has handled some of the most complex medical/pharmaceutical defective product cases undertaken in Australia. We ran one of the largest class actions ever conducted in Australian history on behalf of thousands of women who suffered as a result of defective breast implants produced by American chemical company, Dow Corning. The litigation was conducted in Australia and the United States and resulted in a settlement in 2002, after a 10 year battle. The women experienced a range of issues such as pain, discomfort, physical restrictions, skin rashes, deformity and mental anguish due to faults with the implants ranging from hardening of the silicone gel inside the implant to deflation or rupture of the implant.