Defective Products and Product Liability Cases

Defective products, ranging from malfunctioning hot water heaters to faulty child restraints, cause more than 29.5 million injuries and close to 22,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). If you are one of these victims, read on to find out how product liability attorney and/or filing a product liability lawsuit can help you win the compensation to which you are rightfully entitled.

What Products Qualify as Defective

Any manufactured product can be defective, whether it is a breast implant, a joint replacement, a child’s toy, a brake pad, a tobacco product, or a hair dryer. This doesn’t mean, however, that all accidents associated with the product are grounds for personal injury lawsuits. For example, if you cut yourself with a knife while using it properly, you do not have case. However, if the knife broke while you were using it – resulting in a nasty cut – you would then be eligible to pursue legal action, namely a product liability lawsuit.

If any product is found to be unreasonably dangerous, the appropriate agency works with the manufacturer to institute either a voluntary or mandatory recall. Products are evaluated by the following agencies:

• The CPSC is responsible for approximately 15,000 types of consumer products, from baby strollers to coffee makers.
• Department of Transportation handles automobiles and related products.
• The FDA covers food, cosmetics, and drugs.
• The Department of the Treasury monitors tobacco, alcohol, and firearms

If you have any questions as to whether a defective product is indeed to blame for your injury, contact a personal injury attorney who specializes in product liability in your area today. A product liability attorney can help you review the facts of your case, complete the necessary paperwork, understand relevant laws, and ultimately, receive the damages you deserve.

What Makes a Product Defective

Unfortunately, there are a number of reasons that defective products may their way on to our shelves. These include:

Design defects

Design defects, ranging from defective harness systems on child car seats to hair dryers that dangerously overheat, cause million of injuries annually. These occur before the product is created, in the initial planning phase. Oftentimes, manufacturers catch these after products have been distributed for sale and have to launch a recall. The problem with recalls, however, is that 1) they often occur too late and 2) for whatever reason, product owners may never hear of the recall.

If you have been injured as a result of a design defect, contact a product liability attorney in your area today.

Defective Manufacturing

These flaws result from mistakes or problems that take place during the actual production phase, and they may only affect a few specific items out of many properly working, safe products. One example of a manufacturing defect is a rolling office chair whose wheel disengages, causing the person in the chair to fall and injure her back. Like products with design defects, products with manufacturing def ects are frequently recalled, albeit too late, in many cases.

If you have been injured as a result of a design defect, contact a product liability attorney in your area today.

Inadequate Testing

This is all too common when it comes to safety crash testing. Most corporations test crashworthiness, safety belt effectiveness, and other elements at only 40 miles per hour and only in front-end crashes, rendering these tests inconclusive. Yet these standards have yet to be revised. Other examples include silicone breast implants (long-term effects were not yet known at the time of FDA-approval), faulty electrical wiring, and inefficient child restraint systems.

If you have been injured as a result of inadequate product testing, contact a product liability attorney in your area today.

Marketing Misrepresentation

This can include everything from confusing, hard-to-follow instructions to incomplete warning labels, such as those on prescription drugs. Often, instructions are written at a 10 th-grade level, while the majority of consumers read far below that. Simply revising the instructions so that they match those of newspapers – which are written at a 6 th-grade level- could prevent thousands of injuries.

If You Have Been Injured by a Defective Product…

If you have been injured by a defective product, we advise you to take the following steps. These steps can help you build a credible lawsuit and, ultimately, receive the compensation you rightfully deserve:

Read Up On Product Liability Law

Product liability law gives anyone injured by a defective or unreasonably dange6rous product the right to sue the person or corporation who manufactured or marketed it. This includes manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.

Those who file personal injury lawsuits may receive compensation for medical costs, lost wages, property damages, pain and suffering, and other expenses. If you believe you have been a victim of a defective product, you may want to consider contacting a personal injury attorney for more information.

Also, be sure to preserve the product that injured you, as well as take photos, interview witnesses, and of course, contact a personal injury attorney.

Consult a Personal Injury Attorney E xperienced in Product Liability Law

A person injury attorney experienced in product liability law/defective products can help ensure that you understand your rights and that you receive the compensation you deserve for your injury.

Search for a product liability attorney in your area.