Injured by a failed medical device in Portland, OR? If an implant, mesh, or pump failed inside you, Portland defective medical device lawyer at Angel Law P.C. can pursue the manufacturer for your revision surgery, your lost income, and your pain and disability. Call (503) 953-8224 today for a free consultation.
Our founder, Patrick D. Angel, chaired the Oregon State Bar Products Liability Section in 2015 and 2016 and sits on its executive committee. We have recovered millions for injured Oregonians in verdicts and settlements, including one against a Portland hospital that TopVerdict.com listed among the Top 100 U.S. medical malpractice verdicts for 2019.
Schedule a free consultation with our Portland medical device injury team.
Turn to Angel Law, P.C. for Trusted Counsel & Support
Top 100 U.S. Verdict
Our verdict against a Portland hospital was listed among the Top 100 medical malpractice verdicts in the United States for 2019.
23 Years of Trial Experience
Patrick D. Angel has represented injured Oregonians since 2003 and has trial experience in many cases.
Oregon Bar Section Chair
Elected chair of the Oregon State Bar Products Liability Section, and on its executive committee since 2010.
You Pay Nothing Unless We Win
No retainer. No hourly fees. We advance case costs and are repaid from the recovery.
Medical Equipment Failure Claims in Portland
An implant, a prosthetic, or a device used to treat your condition can fail for reasons you have no way of seeing from the outside. Sometimes the device itself was defective. Other times, it was used or maintained improperly by hospital staff. Either way, the patient is harmed, and sometimes dies. We work out which happened and pursue the party responsible.
These are the failures we see most often in Portland medical device claims:
- Pacemaker and defibrillator failures: A malfunction can cause irregular heart rhythms or cardiac arrest.
- Orthopedic implant defects: Loosening, fracture, or metal debris, usually ending in revision surgery.
- Surgical mesh: Migration or erosion after hernia and pelvic repair.
- Surgical instrument defects: Broken or improperly sterilized tools cause internal injury and infection.
- Insulin and infusion pump errors: A dosing failure takes effect immediately.
- Ventilator and CPAP malfunctions: Interrupted oxygen leads to brain damage or death.
- Dialysis machine failures: Miscalibration or contamination.
- Catheters, filters, and ports: Migration, fracture, or infection.
One failure rarely causes one injury. Device failures can cause bone loss, chronic pain, infection, organ damage, stroke, paralysis, and death. As a Portland medical malpractice lawyer, Patrick D. Angel obtains the records and has a medical expert read them before telling you whether you have a claim, whatever the hardware: allografts, screws and plates, shoulder replacements, or hip and knee replacements.
If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective medical device, the sooner the records are read, the better. Call (503) 953-8224 today.
Compensation You Can Recover for a Failed Medical Device
When a medical device fails, the harm is rarely confined to the device. You may be in constant pain, or unable to move as you did before, or kept from work and the things you used to do. When that happens, you can pursue compensation for economic, non-economic and punitive damages, depending on who is responsible and what the law allows for the failure that led to your condition. More than one party can be answerable for the same failure, and which one decides whether you have a product claim, a malpractice claim, or both:
- The manufacturer, for a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or an inadequate warning.
- A distributor or seller that was in the business of selling or leasing the device.
- The hospital or clinic, for improper maintenance, sterilization, or training.
- The treating clinician, for negligent use or monitoring.
Under ORS 31.610, each defendant pays only its own percentage share, so who belongs in the case is part of what the case is worth.
The losses usually start with a second operation that should never have been necessary. We pursue the full cost of it:
- Past and future medical expenses, including the revision or explant surgery
- In-home and family care costs
- Home or vehicle modifications the injury forces on you
- Lost wages and lost earning capacity
- Pain, disability, and disfigurement
Oregon does not cap non-economic damages in a personal injury case; the $500,000 limit under ORS 31.710 reaches wrongful death claims only. If a public hospital is a co-defendant, the Tort Claims Act sits outside ORS 31.710 and carries a limit of its own.
Punitive damages are possible against a manufacturer under ORS 30.925, though not against a licensed clinician acting within their practice, and Oregon pays the plaintiff only 30% of any punitive award. Where the failure proved fatal, the claim becomes wrongful death, handled by a Portland wrongful death attorney.
Call (503) 953-8224 and we will tell you who belongs in your case and what compensation can we fight for.
How Long Do You Have to Sue for a Defective Medical Device in Oregon?
You have two years to sue for a defective medical device in Oregon, counted from the day you discovered the injury and its connection to the device. That two-year period sits inside an outer limit set by ORS 30.905: the later of ten years from the device’s first purchase, or the repose period of the state where it was made.
Because that outer limit is the later of two periods, a device claim can outlive a malpractice claim against the clinician, which closes five years after the treatment. The five-year limit has one exception: where a provider’s fraud, deceit, or misleading representation is why no claim was filed in time, ORS 12.110(4) gives two years from discovery of the concealment.
A public hospital defendant adds a separate deadline. That deadline is notice under the Oregon Tort Claims Act within 180 days, one year in a wrongful death case, which our hospital negligence page covers in full. A death claim from a device failure runs three years from discovery.
Defective Medical Device Claim FAQs
Does FDA Clearance Mean a Medical Device Is Safe?
No, FDA clearance does not mean a medical device is safe. Most devices reach the market through the 510(k) pathway, which asks whether the device is substantially equivalent to one already on sale rather than whether it is safe.
Substantial equivalence means the same intended use as that earlier device, plus either the same technological characteristics or different ones raising no new questions of safety and effectiveness. Only premarket approval under 21 U.S.C. § 360e makes the word “approval” statutorily correct.
Can You Sue a Medical Device Company?
Yes. You can sue a medical device company for a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or a failure to warn. A failure to warn means the company did not disclose a risk it knew or should have known about.
Can I Sue for a Defective Product if There Was No Recall?
Yes, you can sue for a defective product if there was no recall. A recall is evidence that a problem existed, not a precondition to a claim, and many defective devices are never recalled at all.
Talk to a Defective Medical Device Attorney Today
Whether your case involves a medical equipment malfunction, a device recall, or an injury from equipment used in your care, we are ready to help. We handle cases across Portland and throughout Oregon from our office at 385 1st Street, Suite 215, Lake Oswego, OR 97034.
Call (503) 953-8224 and tell us what happened, or ask us to come to you. We will listen to your story, explain your legal rights, and tell you what your options are.
Angel Law handles dangerous drug claims and medical claims in Portland, Lake Oswego, and throughout Oregon from the same office.