You probably haven’t heard about the Valsartan Lawsuit going on in the country. This lawsuit is filed by a consumer to claim for money damages if he/she was diagnosed with carcinoma after taking the drug. The lawsuits claim that many batches of Valsartan between 2012 and 2018 were found contamination with NDMA, a carcinogen for causing cancers among unaware consumers. The FDA recalled hundreds of products having Valsartan made in China.
Link between Valsartan and Carcinoma
NDMA is a chemical (an abbreviated form of N-nitrosodimethylamine) that contaminated several batches of Valsartan and use of this drug was found to have caused cancer to the consumers.
Scientists have already established a strong connection between NDMA and carcinoma in animals. In fact, researchers often use this chemical agent to cause cancer in the mouse models at the lab.
Legal Grounds
Two common grounds for this type of lawsuit are as follows:
- If the pills have any manufacturing defect
- If improper labelling on the pills fails to make consumers aware of dangers
It needs a mention in this context that the manufacturers did not deliberately want to cause harm or they were negligent. The manufacturers are held responsible for manufacturing defects of their products and/or their failure to provide inadequate labels for proper warning. It means that the complaint is obliged to prove that manufacturer committed a serious mistake that caused serious illness to the consumer.
There is a stringent deadline to bring a lawsuit against the manufacturer. The victim usually has one-year time limit to file a lawsuit. Anyone, who has been affected by Valsartan, is entitled to bring allegation against the manufacturer. Every state has its own statute of limitations but the time deadline can be as little as one year from diagnosis of cancer.
Manufacturing Defect
A manufacturing defect takes place when a product, claimed to be safe for use, is found unsafe due to improper construction.
If compounded properly, Valsartan is safe to use. Unfortunately, several batches of Valsartan were found to be unsafe due to contamination with carcinoma-causing agents during manufacturing process.
The plaintiff needs to prove some important points in order to win a claim for manufacturing defect:
- The drug was defective even before leaving the manufacturer’s den
- The defect played a key role in causing harm to the plaintiff
In order to prove that the drug caused cancer to the plaintiff, his/her attorney should provide some strong evidences as follows:
- Medical records showing that the plaintiff developed cancer only after using Valsartan
- Expert witnesses and medical journals showing links between Valsartan and carcinoma diagnosis
Improper Labeling
Valsartan, like any other medication, has some risks. That is why, the manufacturers are obliged to reveal those risks on the instructions and warning labels.
Failing to warn the consumers in layman’s language may cause harm to the consumers and in that case, they are allowed to file lawsuits against the manufacturers. The plaintiff’s lawyer will have to prove that pill packaging did not mention any warning and his client would not have used the pill but for the manufacturer’s failure to issue warning on the label.