Did a prescription or over-the-counter drug hurt you or someone you love?

If a medication caused a serious side effect, you are in the right place. We can help.

Are you in an emergency right now?

• Call 911 if you or someone else is having trouble breathing, chest pain, severe allergic reaction, or any sign of overdose.
• Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 for guidance on a suspected drug reaction.
• Do not stop or change a prescribed dose on your own. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist first.
• This page is for after you are safe.

This page covers drug injury claim deadlines and what to do right now. We are the injured person's advocate. We connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves. Always free. Talk to an advocate. We usually reply within minutes, at most one business day.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal agency that approves and monitors the safety of drugs sold in the United States, keeps a public database of reported side effects and safety problems (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, FAERS).

Why drug injury cases are tricky

Drug injury cases are different from most injury cases because the harm often shows up slowly, and the science behind it can be complicated.

• The FDA runs FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System), a database where doctors, patients, and drug makers can report side effects after a drug is on the market. Anyone can search it to see what problems have been reported for a specific drug (FDA, FAERS Public Dashboard).
• People and doctors can also report a problem directly through MedWatch, the FDA's safety reporting program (FDA MedWatch).
• One common basis for a drug injury claim is a "failure to warn." This means the drug maker knew, or should have known, about a serious risk and did not put a clear warning on the label. Drug labels get updated over time as new risks become known, and past label changes are public record.
• Because drug injuries often build up over months or years, it can be hard to connect the harm to the drug without medical records and expert review. This is different from a sudden accident, where cause and effect are usually obvious right away.

What real drug injury cases have paid

These are publicly reported results. They show how widely cases vary depending on the drug and the facts. They are examples only. No one can promise or predict what any case is worth, and many cases resolve for far less.

• Over $8 billion verdict (later reduced by the court): a Philadelphia jury awarded a man who developed breast growth after taking the antipsychotic drug Risperdal as a teenager, a case that centered on inadequate warnings (Reuters).
• $2.4 billion in combined settlements: Johnson & Johnson-related settlements over claims that its talc-based products caused ovarian cancer, reported across multiple news outlets covering the litigation (Reuters).
• $650 million settlement: opioid maker Purdue Pharma's initial settlement framework with state and local governments over deceptive marketing of the painkiller OxyContin (Associated Press).
• $4.85 billion settlement: Merck's agreement to resolve thousands of lawsuits claiming its painkiller Vioxx caused heart attacks and strokes, one of the largest pharmaceutical settlements in U.S. history (New York Times).

We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The point of these numbers is simple: when a drug maker fails to warn patients about a serious risk, the legal system has repeatedly held companies accountable, though every case is different and most involve smaller amounts than these headline totals.

Talk to an advocate. You do not have to sort out the science and the deadlines alone.

When it goes wrong: a true story

National reporting on the opioid crisis has documented how patients prescribed painkillers like OxyContin were told for years that the risk of addiction was low, based on marketing claims that were later found to be misleading. The Associated Press and other outlets covered how thousands of families lost loved ones to opioid addiction and overdose before the marketing claims behind these drugs were fully exposed in court records and government investigations (Associated Press, opioid settlement coverage).

The lesson is not that any patient did something wrong by trusting their doctor and the label. The system relies on drug makers to warn people honestly, and when that fails, it can take years for the truth to come out. Talk to an advocate. Tell them what happened, and they will introduce you to a lawyer who can help you gather medical records and understand your options.

Protect your case

1. Talk to an advocate at WeHelpInjured. It is free.
2. Ask your doctor to document your side effect clearly in your medical record.
3. Consider reporting the side effect to the FDA through MedWatch, which helps track safety problems for everyone, not just you.
4. Keep the medication packaging, the pharmacy label, and any paperwork that came with the prescription.
5. Write down when your symptoms started and how they have changed over time.
6. Warning: don't wait! The filing deadline is a trap. It is different in every state, and the clock can start when a side effect is discovered, not when the drug was taken, so people wait, and waiting kills cases. The longer you wait, the fuzzier memories get and packaging gets lost. Talk to an advocate immediately. And important: medical claims can have different, often shorter deadlines. Do not assume the standard rule covers your case. Find your state on our state pages.

Never do these

• Never stop or change a prescribed drug on your own. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist first.
• Never throw away the packaging, pharmacy label, or paperwork. It is evidence.
• Never give a recorded statement to an insurance company, even your own. Talk to an advocate first.
• Never sign anything from the drug maker or its insurer without talking to an advocate first.

What we can help with

• Understanding what happened and what your rights are, in plain language.
• Finding state benefits and support programs you may qualify for.
• Connecting you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves.

All of it is free to you. We never take money from injured people.

Talk to an advocate. A drug injury can be confusing and scary.

Sources

• FDA, Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS): https://www.fda.gov/drugs/surveillance/fda-adverse-event-reporting-system-faers
• FDA, FAERS Public Dashboard: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/questions-and-answers-fdas-adverse-event-reporting-system-faers/fda-adverse-event-reporting-system-faers-public-dashboard
• FDA, MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program: https://www.fda.gov/safety/medwatch-fda-safety-information-and-adverse-event-reporting-program
• Associated Press, opioid crisis and settlement coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/the-opioid-crisis
• Case result reporting: Reuters, New York Times (linked above)