Before you put any energy into pursuing a legal recovery from a pharmaceutical company, you need to know whether you have standing to be a plaintiff in a pharmaceutical injury case.
What Is Standing?
Standing means that you have the legal right to bring a claim in an Iowa court.
Generally, you will have standing if:
- You were physically injured by the medication or medical device.
- You are the legal guardian of someone under the age of 18 or someone whose guardianship has been determined by the court and that person was physically injured by the medication or medical device. In this case, you would have standing to bring a lawsuit on that person’s behalf.
- You are the administrator of an estate and the person who passed away died because of the mediation or medical device. In this case, you have standing to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the estate.
You do not have standing to sue simply because you could have been hurt or you were afraid of being hurt. Instead, you must prove that you have suffered specific and actual injuries.
What Happens If You Don’t Have Standing?
If you file a lawsuit and you don’t have legal standing, then the defendant has the right to file a motion to dismiss with the court. That motion would claim that you lack legal standing to bring a lawsuit. If the defendant’s legal team is correct in its interpretation of the law, then the judge will grant the motion and your case will be over. You will have gone through the effort of bringing a case and you will not recover any financial damages for your efforts.
Thus, it is important to determine whether you have standing before you take action. To learn more about how pharmaceutical class action cases work in Iowa, please browse our website or contact us at any time to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.