After when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, women all across America are stocking up on an emergency contraception pill, commonly referred to by the name of “Plan B” or the “morning-after pill.” The demand for the pill has been so great that many stores, including Amazon are limiting purchases.
This raises the question If it does not work? What if you decide to take Plan B and you still have a baby — could you sue the company accountable?
In reality, based the location you reside in depending on where you live, it is possible to.
What’s Plan B?
Plan B is a specific brand of contraception for emergencies. It is a single dose tablet, which is taken within 72 hours of having had sexual contact (if you do the pill within 24 hours of having sex and it’s even better). According to the company approximately seven out of eight women are not pregnant when they use Plan B as directed. There is no need for an prescription or evidence of your age in order to purchase the drug.
Plan B does not include:
- It is as effective as traditional contraception , this contraceptive is not recommended to be used as your primary method to control your birth (hence the title “Plan B”)
- A pill for abortion does not result in a miscarriage (if you’re already pregnant the plan B option will not perform)
- Prevention against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections
What would your law suit be?
A lot of (but many, though not every) states permit you to claim damages for “wrongful conception” or “wrongful pregnancy.” The most common scenario is the event of someone becoming pregnant as a result of a sterilization procedure like a vasectomy, or tubal ligation however, the same principle applies to contraceptives for birth (like pills or condom) or the use of emergency contraception.
A number of courts have ruled that people are entitled to make a decision on whether they’re capable of having a child and, if the method to prevent births fails and they are unable to have children, they ought to seek out the culprit. If you’ve had an unsuccessful sterilization process, it could be the medical professional. If the condom fails or your oral contraception (including emergency contraception) isn’t working It could be due to the manufacture.
Many cases of wrong conception brought against manufacturers of products are based on three legal theories:
- Liability is strict
- Negligence
- Infraction to Warranty
Let’s look at these.
Strict Liability
The benefit of the strict liability claims is that you do not have to show that someone else was responsible in your pregnancy. In addition, you must show that your Plan B you used was ineffective and because of this defect it caused you to become pregnant.
The product could be defective by three different ways:
- Style: The product is created in a way which poses an unacceptably high danger of injury (or as in Plan B, in the Plan B case, pregnancy)
- Production: It’s a good design However, there was a problem during the production process, which creates a risk too high of injury.
- Warn: The warnings included within the product aren’t sufficient.
If you are able to prove that the emergency contraception that you employed was flawed in one of the above ways, you could be able to sue the maker if you became pregnant.
Negligence
The negligence case is typically more difficult to demonstrate in comparison to a strict liability case. In order to win a claim for negligence it is necessary to prove that the company was not an “reasonably sensible person,” which means that they were reckless in the manufacturing and selling of their emergency contraception. There is no way to prove you used the pill, and then became pregnant. One in eight women become pregnant even after taking the plan B in the manner that was prescribed.
The next step is to establish the wrongdoing of someone else. It usually requires lawyers to do to go into the business’s documents. It’s costly and time-consuming and time-consuming, yet there are a myriad of possibilities for a business to be negligent (and certain of them might be in support of the strict liability claim). A good example of how the company could be negligent is if it fails to properly warn consumers of potential risks in the product.
A breach of warranty
A claim for breach of warranty is rooted in the law of contract. Most of the time selling products comes with warranties. It is a guarantee that the item will be able to meet specific quality standards that are specified and perform in a specific manner. If the product fails to comply with these standards, then the company is said to have “breached” the warranty.
There are two kinds of warranties: implied and express. implied. The express warranty refers to either written or spoken assurance of the product’s quality and dependability. Implied warranties cannot be either written or spoken, but they go alongside the product as per legal requirements. The manufacturer of contraceptives for emergency use expressly warrants that the product works as advertised and, in the event that both people involved agree, that it is appropriate for use in a specific way.
There’s a lot of overlap between the strict liability, negligence and breaches of warranty claims. Sometimes , the same proof can be used to establish the validity of each assertion.
How Could You Get?
If you are successful in your case for wrongful conception you could be eligible recover damages in the real sense. This is a reference to money that law enforcement will pay to pay for loss you suffered.
It is generally believed that this would comprise the costs directly connected to the pregnancy as well as the birth, like medical costs and in certain states, emotional stress. But, the majority of courts aren’t willing the parents’ right to claim the expenses of raising the child.
In some cases it is possible to claim punitive damages. These damages aren’t intended to be a way to compensate for loss. In fact, they’re designed to penalize an offender who has committed a blatant and indecent act in order to discourage them and others from repeating it.
Find an Good lawyer
Cases of wrongful conception can be difficult to resolve. The challenge is convincing an arbitrator and eventually the jury that you’re not the one woman in eight that can’t get pregnant regardless of whether the plan B performs as it is supposed to. If you are able to overcome this obstacle but you have to prove that it’s a defective product or the company has committed a mishap.
If you are being in the position of having unintentionally becoming pregnant after having Plan B, think about speaking to a lawyer for products liability located near to you (after seeing your doctor obviously). They’ll be able to provide you with legal guidance regarding your circumstances and assist you in determining whether filing a suit in your situation is worthwhile.
It’s not necessary to solve the problem on your own. Seek the help of a lawyer
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