Ulcers are one of the side effects Pfizer, the manufacturer of Bextra, warned about in its product insert. If your mother’s physician knew or should have known about your mother’s history with ulcers, and he made the decision to prescribe Bextra anyway, he could be held responsible for your mother’s injuries in a lawsuit for medical malpractice. Your mother would have to prove that he was negligent in some way, which resulted in her injuries. Perhaps he failed to take a complete medical history, or failed to familiarize himself with the side effects of the drug, or simply failed to mention anything at all about it to her. If she can prove he was negligent, that is, didn’t do something a doctor should have done, or did something a doctor shouldn’t have done, then he could be found liable.

The drug manufacturer could potentially be held “strictly liable” for your mother’s bleeding ulcer. Strict liability, unlike negligence, requires no proof that the defendant was negligent or careless; your mother must only prove that she was injured by a defect either in the manufacture or the design of the product, or that there was a failure to adequately warn the consumer of a hazard involved in the foreseeable use of this drug. To prove a defect in the product, your mom’s attorney will likely hire a pharmaceutical expert to testify regarding the make-up of the product and/or its warning.

If your mother knew that Bextra could potentially cause abdominal pain, ulcers and bleeding ulcers by having read the insert from the manufacturer, and she didn’t bring it to the doctor’s attention that she has a history of ulcers, then she could share in the liability as well. Pfizer could also claim that they did provide adequate warning about ulcers, which both your mother and her doctor should have known.