Compensation for medicine recalls

You can be entitled to claim compensation for medicine recalls if you have suffered some form of harm or injury arising from an issue with medicines that you have taken.

If something has gone wrong and the fault lies with the manufacturer, seller, or even someone administering medicine, you could be entitled to pursue a legal case. We can offer No Win, No Fee legal representation, and you can speak to the team here for free, no-obligation advice.

Claiming compensation for medicine recalls

Victims who have suffered any kind of harm or adverse effect could be entitled to pursue claims for compensation for medicine recalls. If the recall is due to something like a defect, contamination, or incorrect advice or instructions for the user, and someone comes to harm, there could be a case to answer.

In large scale recalls where numerous people have been harmed, these can lead to group and multi-party legal actions. Although not a medicine, one of the most infamous ones here in the UK is the PIP Breast Implant Scandal from earlier last decade, which has seen us recover over £1.3m in damages for victims to date so far. Group compensation for medicine recalls can happen in a similar way where multiple people are harmed due to some form of issue with a medicine that they have taken.

A recent example of a medicine recall

It is not possible to claim compensation for medicine recalls in all cases, but it is useful to see how the regulatory framework operates in this country to give you an idea of what we mean.

At the end of October 2021, there was a Class 2 medicines Recall that the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), was involved with. The recall was for Tesco’s “Flu-Max All In One Chesty Cough & Cold Powder”, involving Wrafton Laboratories Limited, trading as Perrigo.

The issue was over an error on the sachets inside the carton, where it incorrectly stated that, “children aged 12 years and over can take 4 sachets containing 1000mg of paracetamol (i.e. 4 doses over a 24 hour period)”, whereas the carton stated that the product is not suitable for anyone under the age of 16.

It has been confirmed that the product should not be given to anyone under the age of 16, and that the product is only for sale in Tesco stores. The error is understood to have stemmed from some changes in the use of paracetamol, according to the MHRA.

We do not know if there is any reason in terms of harm as to why it cannot be taken for younger age groups but, if that is the case, this example can demonstrate the potential dangers when things go wrong. Even an error on a label could lead to someone using medicines incorrectly, and this could harm someone. This is why the work of the MHRA is vital, and we hope that no harm will come from this event at all.

Speak to the Group Action Lawyers for help

If you would like to speak to the team about compensation for medicine recalls or for any other kind of event, we would like to hear from you. Whether it is about an ongoing action we are already involved with, or a new action you think we could assist with, we would like to hear from you.

You can speak to the team here now for free, no-obligation advice. For eligible actions, we are able to offer No Win, No Fee legal representation.