Deceptive Marketing Practices with Medications

While most product liability lawsuits involve products that are dangerous due to a design or manufacturing flaw, a deceptive marketing claim usually deals with the product’s labeling, or the way it was presented to the public. In this case, the item itself might be perfectly fine and usable, if not for its poor labeling or misrepresented marketing.

Defective or deceptive marketing can be particularly hazardous—or even fatal—in the world of prescription and over-the-counter medication.

Examples of deceptive marketing in drugs

Drug manufacturers have the duty to warn users of all the risks of taking a specific medication. If they neglect this obligation, it is known as a “failure to warn” or a “marketing defect.” This can present in several ways:

• Improper labeling
• Insufficient instructions
• Inadequate safety warnings of risks and dangers

Examples include:

• Failure to warn of dangerous drug interactions
• Marketing a product as “safe” when there are certain risks
• Not warning certain categories of patients that they should not use that drug
• Confusing instructions for use
• Incorrect dosing directions
• Using overinflated language to describe a product and its effectiveness

Giving consumers full knowledge of the risks associated with a medication allows them to make informed decisions. Without this information, patients could experience life-threatening side effects, drug interactions, overdoses, and more.

Read more:

• Important Steps in a Georgia Product Liability Claim

Filing a failure to warn claim

In terms of pharmaceutical product liability claims, Georgia employs the rules of either strict liability or negligence. In certain cases, you may not need to prove the defendant was at fault or intentionally did harm, but rather that the product’s marketing was inherently dangerous (strict liability).

In other cases (negligence), you may need to show that:

• The manufacturer had knowledge of a product’s foreseeable risk
• The labeling or marketing was, in fact, deceptive or defective
• The product’s marketing defect caused you harm

You may also need to show that you received and reviewed the product’s labeling or marketing.  In either negligence or strict liability claims, you will need to show that you actually did take the drug and the incorrect labeling caused you measurable harm.

Only an experienced Georgia defective drug attorney can fully review your claim and give you specific legal advice. To speak with a products liability lawyer about your marketing defects claim, call Harris Lowry Manton LLP today. To reach out Atlanta office, call 404-961-7650 or contact the Savannah office at 912-651-9967, or complete our contact form.