5 Common Types of Defects Medical Devices May Face

Medical devices are crucial to the treatment and diagnosis of patients, but some medical devices have defects that can become devastating issues. Defects in medical devices can be dangerous for patient safety because they can harm a patient or worsen their condition.

Los Angeles is a global city in California with a population of around 3.82 million. The city is a hub for business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, and science, and many residents rely on advanced medical technologies for their health needs. However, when people in Los Angeles are exposed to defective medical devices for diagnosis or treatment, the consequences can be dangerous.

If you are injured from a defective medical device, the best thing to do is speak to a Los Angeles defective medical device lawyer to learn about your legal options.

1. Design Defect

A device can be manufactured correctly and still contain a design defect. For example, implants may be prone to brittleness during use, or a heart monitor may fail to provide consistent and reliable readings. In these situations, the product design itself creates risks for the user, even if the device was properly made.

2. Manufacturing Defect

Manufacturing defects occur when mistakes in the production process make an otherwise safe design unsafe for use. For example, a device may be built with faulty materials, loose components, or inadequate quality control, which can lead to contamination or malfunction. In these cases, even though the overall design is sound, the defective unit poses a risk to patients.

3. Labelling Defect

Clear instructions and warnings are essential for the safe use of any medical device. Inadequate, unclear, or misleading labeling can easily lead to user errors. For example, hospitals have reported numerous mistakes with infusion pumps due to confusing instructions, some of which nearly resulted in serious harm to patients. Similarly, unclear labeling could cause a respirator to be used on the wrong patient during a respiratory emergency, creating dangerous consequences.

4. Software Defect

While some proportion of medical devices host software apparatus, software “bugs” or glitches in code will generate device failures. In the case of a glucose monitor, it may be “reset” and read unexpected results reflecting previous expected results, or stop working altogether.

5. Sterilizing Defects

When a medical device is intended to be sterile, any failure in the sterilization process can create serious risks. Defects in sterilization may result in contaminated surgical tools or devices that transmit infections to patients. These problems can arise from errors during the initial sterilization process or from failures in packaging and cleaning procedures that compromise sterility before use.

Key Takeaways

• Design defects can limit the usefulness of a medical device, even if the device does not have any material flaws.
• Manufacturing defects, though sometimes limited to a few products, can bypass safety standards and introduce serious risks of injury.
• Clear warnings and proper instructions are essential to help users avoid mistakes.
• Software or functional failures in medical devices may mimic normal operation, making such defects unusually difficult to detect and predict.
• Sterilization defects can lead to contaminated devices, which may cause infections and other harmful clinical effects.
•  If you experienced harm from a defective medical device, an attorney specializing in defective medical device cases can assist you.