Although medical device manufacturers are supposed to vet their creations extensively before putting them on the market, some products get in the hands of caregivers or patients when there are dangerous consequences or bugs that haven't been addressed.

If you have been injured by a defective medical device, you could suffer pain, complications, and possibly even have to undergo treatment for whatever problems the device caused. After getting medical treatment for the issue, you need to consult with a defective medical device attorney about your case to ensure that you receive any compensation you deserve, and that the device will not continue to cause issues for other people.

There's another step you should take if you are concerned about the product issues affecting other patients. When device manufacturers or government regulators are not aware of an existing problem, there is more of a chance that other patients could be hurt by the device. That's why the Food and Drug Administration maintains a reporting program for these dangerous products.

Early this month a federal judge dismissed a defective drug lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb, maker of the drug Abilify. According to the judge's ruling, pharmaceutical companies cannot be held responsible for providing detailed instructions to doctors on how to monitor the symptoms of dystonia.

Dystonia is an incurable neurological disorder that causes sustained muscle contractions, resulting in repetitive and twisting motions or abnormal posture. According to the plaintiff, Ryan Bergstresser, Abilify can cause dystonia, but the warning labels on the medication do not warn medical practitioners of this fact. Instead, they carry a warning of possible tardive dyskinesia, which carries similar symptoms.

According to Bergstresser's complaint, Bristol-Meyers failed to provide physicians with education, recommendations, or directions on how the medication dosage should be increased or decreased when being prescribed for depression-like symptoms in order to prevent these conditions. The drug is usually used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, irritability associated with autism, and depression.

USA Today published a stunning report that reveals that, across the country, there are thousands of doctors who are forbidden to practice in hospitals or other medical establishments, yet have not received any kind of punishment from state medical boards. Those doctors, despite having settled multiple medical malpractice suits, still maintain their medical license.

The publication collected data and statistics from multiple sources, including the National Practitioner Data Bank. The law mandates that any “adverse action” filed against a physician must be reported to the data bank – the intention being that the data bank would be closely watched by the state boards. Other sources of information were hospital disciplinary records and malpractice payment records.

The investigation revealed that almost 6,000 physicians had clinical privileges revoked between the years 2001 and 2011. But astonishingly, more than half of these same doctors never received any kind of discipline or reprimand from their state licensing boards. No fines, restrictions, suspensions or revocations were issued against these doctors.

Metallosis is a side effect experienced by some individuals who have metal on metal hip replacements. It results from metal corrosion and release of wear debris from the device into the body of the patient. For the patients who underwent surgery to receive metal hip replacements, what they hoped would make their lives easier could actually end in pain, suffering, and a defective medical device lawsuit.

Hip resurfacing techniques were developed in the 1970's with the goal of limiting bone resection, risk of dislocation, and wear, but the method that was used had a high failure rate, bringing researchers back to the drawing table. Since then, hip resurfacing reemerged in the 1990's with what seemed like positive results. After patients began going through the hip replacement process, however, there were multiple impacts on patients who were given defective hip replacements.

As the metal hip works in the body, it runs the risk of breaking down and releasing metal into the body, especially the areas surrounding the hip. Patients can develop metallosis in just one hip even when they had underwent a bilateral hip surgery. A doctor can diagnose metallosis by looking an X-ray. This image will show cloudy or dark fluid around the hip joint. Many patients come to their doctor after feeling unstable with the hip device, hearing new and strange sounds from the device itself, or experiencing sudden hip pain that was not present prior to or immediately following hip replacement surgery.

A nasty fungal meningitis outbreak in Tennessee has left several families and patients reeling with new injuries sustained after a tainted steroid shot was administered in several facilities across the state, according to The Tennessean. One of the recent lawsuits to be filed due to this incident was filed on behalf of Major Adam Ziegler, 33. Major Ziegler is a veteran of wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. His 49-page complaint, according to The Tennessean, states that the continued nerve damage in his feet and legs, incurred by the tainted steroid, has “negatively impacted his military career.”

Yet Major Ziegler is luckier than some of his counterparts. One lawsuit was filed “for the family of retired Nashville school librarian Earline Williams, one of the early victims to die in the nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak.” The outbreak first rocked medical facilities across the country in October of last year, and according to The Tennessean, the recent “flurry of lawsuits comes as a one-year deadline is approaching to assert claims under Tennessee's health care and product liability laws.”

While Tennessee may have had one of the highest numbers of fungal meningitis outbreaks due to this steroid (with 153, the state is second only to Michigan with 264), Illinois has been affected as well. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there have been at least two documented cases of fungal meningitis outbreak in the state due to these tainted shots. More than 75 medical facilities across the country, a high concentration of them along the Eastern Corridor, received shipments of the tainted shots. Since last October, according to the CDC, there have been 750 cases nationwide of fungal meningitis due to the tainted steroid shots, resulting in 64 deaths.