A defective medical device lawyer helps people harmed by a faulty implant or medical device, and families who lost someone to one. At Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP, our defective medical device attorneys hold the device makers accountable when a product that was supposed to heal causes harm instead. A device placed in your body to help you should never be the thing that hurts you. When it is, and a manufacturer is to blame, our firm makes it answer.
We put extraordinary trust in medical devices, the hip implant, the surgical mesh, the heart device, letting them into our bodies to fix a problem. When one is poorly designed, defectively made, or sold without warning of a known danger, the result can be a failed device, a second surgery, and a lifetime of pain. Our Buffalo defective medical device lawyers take on the manufacturers responsible. This connects to our broader Buffalo personal injury practice, so the full weight of the firm is behind your case.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
A defective medical device case is a claim against the maker of a medical product that injured a patient because it was defective or unreasonably dangerous. It's a form of product liability, applied to implants and devices. When a device fails or causes harm because of how it was designed, made, or labeled, the company that put it on the market can be held responsible for the injuries.
These cases target the device and the company behind it, not the surgeon who implanted it. A defective medical device case is about a product that was flawed before it ever reached the operating room. Our defective medical device attorneys focus on the manufacturer's failure, whether the device was badly designed, defectively made, or sold without adequate warning of a known risk.
Usually one of three kinds of defect. A design defect means the device is unreasonably dangerous even when made correctly. A manufacturing defect means something went wrong in production, so a device came out flawed. A warning defect means the company failed to warn patients and doctors about a known risk. Any of these can make a manufacturer responsible for the harm the device caused.
The three defect types our defective medical device lawyers pursue are:
Many device cases involve a design that was flawed from the start, sold to thousands of patients before the failures became undeniable. Our defective medical device attorneys dig into what the maker knew about the device's dangers, and when it knew it.
Not always, and how a device reached the market matters. Some devices go through the FDA's most rigorous approval process, while many others reach the market through a faster clearance process that only requires showing the device is similar to one already sold. That faster path means a lot of devices are never fully tested for safety before they're implanted in patients.
How a device was cleared can also affect what legal claims are available, which is one of the more complex parts of these cases and a key reason to have an experienced firm evaluate yours. FDA clearance is not a guarantee of safety, and it doesn't automatically shield a manufacturer. Our defective medical device lawyers know how these approval paths work and how they affect your options.
A wide range of implants and devices, especially those meant to stay in the body. Hip and knee implants, surgical and hernia mesh, heart devices like pacemakers and defibrillators, blood-clot filters, insulin pumps, surgical staplers, and spinal hardware have all been the subject of defective device litigation. The common thread is a device that failed or caused harm it shouldn't have.
Implanted devices carry special risks, because when one fails inside the body, removing or replacing it often means major surgery. What matters isn't the specific device but the nature of the failure, a flawed design, a manufacturing defect, or a hidden risk. Our defective medical device attorneys evaluate the device, the injury, and what's known about that product's failures.
Revision surgery is a second operation to remove, repair, or replace a failed device, and it's often the most serious harm in these cases. When an implant fails, corrodes, migrates, or breaks, a patient frequently needs another surgery to fix it, with all the risks, pain, and recovery that involves. Some patients need multiple revisions.
This is what sets device cases apart from many other injuries. A failed implant doesn't just stop working; it often has to be surgically removed, subjecting the patient to another operation they never should have needed. Our defective medical device lawyers build the full cost of that revision surgery, and any that follow, into the claim, because it's harm the manufacturer caused.
Serious, often lasting ones. Depending on the device, harms can include device failure and breakage, migration of the device within the body, metal poisoning from corroding implants, organ perforation, chronic pain, infection, nerve damage, the need for revision surgery, and death. These are major injuries, not minor complications.
The damage is often compounded because the device is inside the body, so a failure can cause harm that spreads before it's caught. A corroding metal implant, a mesh that erodes, or a filter that fractures can injure surrounding tissue and organs. Our defective medical device attorneys document the full extent of the harm and its long-term effects, so the claim reflects everything the device cost you.
A recall is an action to remove or correct a device that the FDA or the manufacturer has found to be dangerous or defective. Recalls range from minor corrections to warnings that a device can cause serious injury or death. A recall can be an important sign that a device was defective, though you don't need a recall to bring a claim.
Recalls often come only after many patients have already been harmed, and sometimes long after the manufacturer first learned of the problem. If your device was recalled, it can be strong evidence, but even without one, a claim may be possible. Our defective medical device lawyers track device recalls and warnings and investigate what the maker knew about a device's failures.
No, and the difference decides who is responsible. A defective medical device case blames the device and its manufacturer. A claim against a surgeon for a surgical mistake, or against a hospital, is a different kind of claim. In a true device case, the operation may have gone fine, and the device itself was the problem.
Sometimes both are involved, a device was defective and a provider was also negligent, and the claims can be pursued together. But they point to different responsible parties. Our defective medical device attorneys identify which kind of case you have, and if a surgical or hospital error contributed, our related medical malpractice practice covers that ground.
Primarily the manufacturer, and sometimes others in the chain. The company that designed, made, and marketed the device is usually the central defendant, but responsibility can also reach a component maker, a distributor, or another party involved in bringing the device to market. These are large, well-funded corporations, and taking them on takes real resources.
Device manufacturers defend these cases aggressively, with teams of lawyers and their own experts, so an injured patient needs experienced representation to stand a chance. Our defective medical device lawyers understand how these companies operate and how to hold them accountable, and we have the resources to pursue a corporate defendant the way these cases demand.
It's how many defective device cases are handled, because the same device often harms large numbers of people. When thousands of patients are hurt by one product, their cases are frequently coordinated into a mass tort or a multidistrict litigation, which groups similar claims together while keeping each case individual. Your claim stays yours, but it moves within a larger, coordinated fight.
This structure gives injured patients real strength in numbers against a giant device maker, while still valuing each case on its own facts and injuries. Our defective medical device attorneys help injured New Yorkers bring their claims within these coordinated litigations, so you get the leverage of the larger fight without losing the individual attention your case deserves.
A defective medical device claim can recover your past and future medical expenses, including revision surgery, lost income and reduced earning power, the cost of ongoing care, and compensation for pain, suffering, and the lasting effect on your life. Where a company knew of a danger and hid it, punitive damages may also be possible, and if the device caused a death, the family can pursue a wrongful death claim.
The future costs often dominate these cases, because a failed implant can mean repeated surgeries and permanent limitations. When a manufacturer put profits ahead of patient safety, the law may also allow punitive damages meant to punish and deter that conduct. Our defective medical device attorneys pursue every category of compensation the facts support.
The family may have a wrongful death claim. When a defective implant or device kills someone, whether through device failure, organ damage, infection, or another catastrophic complication, the family can bring a claim through the estate against the manufacturer, along with a claim for what their loved one suffered.
Our wrongful death lawyer page explains how these claims work in New York, who can bring them, and what a family can recover. Losing a loved one to a device that was supposed to help them is a profound loss, and our defective medical device lawyers handle these cases with the care a grieving family deserves.
Generally three years, but when the clock starts can depend on when you connected the injury to the device. Because a device problem often isn't obvious until it fails or a revision surgery reveals it, New York's rules can allow the deadline to run from when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, that the device caused your harm. The timing can be complicated, so it's a mistake to wait.
These deadlines are especially tricky in device cases, because a recall, a new warning, or a failure years after the implant may be the first sign of a problem. Coordinated litigations can also have their own timelines. Our defective medical device attorneys sort out exactly when your deadline runs, so a valid claim isn't lost to a technicality.
Get medical care and preserve everything about the device. Keep any device information you have, the make, model, and any implant card or paperwork, and hold onto your medical and surgical records. Critically, if a failed device is removed from your body, ask that it be preserved rather than discarded, because the device itself can be the single most important piece of evidence.
That last point is device-specific and easy to miss. A hospital may discard an explanted device as medical waste, destroying key proof of what went wrong. Getting our defective medical device lawyers involved early, ideally before or right after a revision surgery, lets us make sure the device is preserved and your claim is protected.
Our defective medical device lawyers investigate the device, the injury, and the company behind it. From the start, our attorneys establish which device caused the harm, work to preserve the explanted device when there is one, gather the medical proof, and determine what the manufacturer knew about the risk and when.
Our defective medical device attorneys work with medical and engineering experts to prove that the device was defective and that it caused your injury, and we position your claim within any coordinated litigation to give it the strength of the larger fight. Our team documents the full lifetime impact, including revision surgeries and permanent harm, and pursues every responsible party. Most cases resolve through negotiation, but our defective medical device lawyers build every one to be ready for trial, and our firm stands with injured clients from start to finish.
Our defective medical device lawyers represent injured people and grieving families across Western New York, and our firm handles these cases the same way it handles every case, with the client's interests first, through settlement, trial, and appeal. Our attorneys understand how device makers defend these claims and how to hold them accountable for the harm their products cause.
These cases reward a firm that isn't intimidated by a corporate defendant, understands both the medicine and the litigation, and will fight for a seriously injured client. That's what our defective medical device attorneys bring, along with straight answers in plain language, so you always know where your case stands. You focus on your health and your recovery. Our team will handle the investigation and the fight.
If you or someone you love was seriously harmed by a faulty implant or medical device in Buffalo or Western New York, the attorneys at Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP are ready to help. Contact us for a free consultation, and a Buffalo defective medical device lawyer will review what happened, evaluate whether the device's maker is responsible, and lay out your options, with no fee unless we recover for you.
Don't wait, especially if a revision surgery is coming up, because preserving the device can make or break the case. The sooner our defective medical device lawyers start, the more our team can do to save the evidence, investigate the manufacturer, and protect the full recovery you and your family deserve. If your harm came from a medication rather than a device, our dangerous drug lawyer page covers that overlap as well.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
Disclaimer: This page is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Reading it doesn't create an attorney client relationship. Product liability and medical device law is complex and can change; the principles described reflect New York and federal law as of 2026, and how they apply depends on your specific situation. Every case is different, and prior results don't guarantee a similar outcome. For advice about a specific injury, please consult a licensed New York attorney.
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