What are the duties of a drug manufacturer in the case involving unsafe drugs?
A drug manufacturer has a duty to warn of side effects of a drug when such effects are understood to occur, but is not expected to warn of unknown dangers. Usually, the manufacturer discharges this duty by providing the necessary information to the patient’s prescribing physician or to the pharmacist. The drug manufacturer is considered an expert in its field, and as such has a continuing duty to keep abreast of knowledge regarding its products and take all reasonable steps to update medical professionals on their potential adverse effects. There is no duty to warn of possible reactions in unusually susceptible consumers, however, but just because a reaction is rare does not mean the manufacturer has no duty to warn about it or that the persons experiencing the reaction are unusually susceptible.
