Philadelphia Product Liability Lawyers
When you use a product, you expect it to work as it was intended. You reasonably assume that the product will work correctly and often might not give it a second thought. However, many people are injured every year by the very products they trusted.
In some cases, manufacturers produce and sell goods to consumers that put the user’s health and safety at risk. Product designers may take safety shortcuts in the interest of saving money. Manufacturers and marketers could also fail to provide consumers with adequate warnings to keep them safe. These parties sometimes rush to get products on the market without performing proper testing, prioritizing profits over safety.
Unfortunately, some product manufacturers know their products aren’t safe and decide to sell them anyway. They make the decision to handle legal claims as they arise, rather than ensuring their products are safe.
When companies act carelessly and sell dangerous products, the victim may be able to work with a defective product lawyer to file a legal claim against them. The legal team at Cousin Benny Injury wants to help. Call us today for a free case review.
What Is a Product Liability?
Product liability refers to an area of law designed to protect consumers from defective or unsafe products. Manufacturers, designers, retailers, and distributors have a legal responsibility to ensure that the products they sell are safe to use as they were intended. This area of the law holds manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, and others in the supply chain accountable when they sell unsafe products that harm consumers. The injured party may have the right to file a product liability lawsuit to pursue compensation if they were injured due to a defective product.
Types of Product Defects
Products can be defective or unsafe for various reasons, but the three general categories involved in product liability cases include the following:
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing flaws involve a problem that occurs during the production process. Manufacturing defects occur because of an error in assembly. The original design of the product may be safe, but some problem during the manufacturing process may make it unsafe when the product is not made according to standards. Manufacturers can be held responsible for defects caused by faulty construction, even if they were careful in the manufacturing process, due to strict liability principles.
Examples of manufacturing defects include the following:
- The wrong screws or bolts used in a product, making the product more likely to come apart or break
- Products made with faulty materials
- Airbags that fail to deploy properly
- Products that accidentally include allergens that are not listed in the ingredients
- Medication that contains contaminants
- Missing components in a product
- Toys with sharp edges due to mistakes during production
- Improper assembly of a product
Manufacturing defects can affect a single item or an entire batch
Design Defects
Design defects involve products that are unsafe at their inception due to a dangerous design. There isn’t a problem during the manufacturing process. The product is produced according to specifications, but the design itself is defective, leading to an unsafe product.
Product designers are expected to take proper precautions and conduct tests to ensure that the product they are designing works as intended. When they skip these steps, the underlying design can be flawed. A dangerous blueprint, unsafe scheme, or design defect can be an example of this type of problem.
Examples of products with design defects include
- Children’s toys with small parts that pose a choking hazard
- Vehicles that are more prone to rollover because of a top-heavy design
- A medical device with sharp edges that injures product users
- Unsafe chemical components in airbags that make them not operate correctly
Safer design alternatives can be used as evidence in these cases.
Warning Defects
Another type of product defect occurs when a product manufacturer or other party fails to provide sufficient warnings about the product that could render an otherwise safe product unsafe. When manufacturers do not include warnings about potential risks, interactions between the product and other common items, allergen information, or instructions on how to safely use the product, a warning defect may exist. Manufacturers must label their products with clear safety warnings and provide adequate information on how to use the item for its intended use.
Examples of warning defects include:
- A chair without a weight limit
- A medication that fails to warn about side effects for certain populations
- A cleaning chemical that can burn the skin when it is not diluted
Manufacturers are also required to warn consumers about risks that they have newly discovered, often by recalling the item.
An experienced attorney can review your particular situation and explain which type of defect was responsible for your injuries.
Common Defective Products
Unfortunately, there are many different types of defective products that can harm consumers. Some of the most common include the following:
- Dangerous drugs and medical devices: Prescription and over-the-counter medications can cause serious harm to patients who may not be aware of dangerous interactions with other medicines. Medical devices like defective hip implants or malfunctioning medical equipment can also cause serious injuries.
- Defective vehicles: SUV rollovers due to poor design or other defects in products can cause consumer deaths and injuries
- Defective auto parts: Various types of auto defects can lead to severe injuries and fatalities, such as:
- Airbag defects that cause deployment failures
- Faulty seatbelts that fail to restrain a passenger during a collision
- Tire blowouts caused by manufacturing errors
- Defective steering components that cause collisions
- Defective machinery: Poorly designed industrial equipment, heavy machinery, or tools can lead to workplace accidents.
- Defective consumer electronics and appliances: Defective electronics can cause serious injuries due to faulty wiring or batteries that overheat and explode. Sometimes, these defective products cause fires. Examples of these types of defective products include kitchen appliances, smartphones, and laptops.
- Defective children’s products and toys: Children are the most vulnerable consumers. Unfortunately, poorly constructed cribs, flammable clothes, toys with choking hazards, and children’s products containing harmful chemicals like lead cause many injuries and deaths every year.
- Defective household chemicals and cleaning products: Cleaning products or pesticides may lack adequate warning labels about toxicity or poisoning that render them unsafe.
- Contaminated food products: The foods we eat and depend on for nutrition may contain pesticides, chemicals, bacteria, or allergens that make them unsafe.
- Defective makeup and beauty products: Improper labeling could affect the safety of makeup, soap, perfume, deodorant, and other beauty products.
If you or a loved one was harmed by a defective product, including any item not on this list, contact our experienced product liability lawyers for a free case review.
Types of Financial Compensation Available After a Product Defect Injury
Defective product victims may be able to recover compensation for the damages they suffered, including the following:
- Medical expenses: Compensation for medical bills you incurred for emergency medical treatment, ongoing medical treatment, surgeries, rehabilitation, medication, and future medical expenses
- Lost income: Compensation for lost wages and salaries due to time off work
- Reduced earning capacity: Compensation for any reductions in your long-term earning capacity due to your injuries
- Permanent disability: Financial relief for long-term impairments and disabilities caused by the defective product
- Pain and suffering: Physical pain and suffering, as well as emotional distress and mental anguish caused by the accident and resulting injuries
- Loss of enjoyment of life: Damages that recognize the impact your injuries have on your ability to enjoy favorite pastimes and hobbies
Every product liability case is different. An experienced lawyer can help determine the full range of compensation you could be eligible to recover.
What You Must Prove to Win a Product Liability Case
To prevail in a product defect case, you must be able to show the following legal elements:
- The product was defective: The product was improperly designed, not manufactured according to safety standards, or lacked appropriate warnings about risks.
- The product caused an injury: The product was the legal and proximate cause of your injuries.
- You used the product as intended: You used the product for its intended use or a reasonably foreseeable one.
- The product was not substantially changed: The product must have been substantially in the same condition that it was in when it was purchased.
Evidence That Can Help Product Defect Cases
Our experienced legal team can help gather evidence to help prove each element of your claim, such as:
- Internal safety reports
- Recall records
- Documentation regarding the engineering and manufacturing of the defective product
- Test results for safety tests (or the lack thereof)
- Documentation revealing that the product did not comply with industry standards or safety standards
- Communications from other consumers about the product being unsafe
- Expert witness reports from safety experts and engineers
- Expert testimony from medical and financial experts about your losses
What to Do After You Are Injured by a Defective Product
If a defective product injures you, the steps you take immediately after the accident can impact your health and legal claim. If possible, take these steps after a defective product accident:
Seek Immediate Medical Attention
Even if you feel fine initially after an accident, you should seek medical attention immediately so that any injuries you have can be properly diagnosed and you can begin medical treatment. Additionally, this step will help link your injuries to the defective product.
In the weeks following the accident, follow your doctor’s medical advice and attend all your appointments. Insurance companies often look for gaps in medical treatment to justify a denial of injuries or to insinuate that your injuries are not as serious as you claim.
Record Your Injuries
Take pictures or videos of your injuries, as well as the defective product and the circumstances surrounding your injuries. This information can help paint a clear picture of how your injuries occurred and help connect them to the product defect.
Report the Accident
Report the accident to the manufacturer of the defective product. This helps create a paper trail and shows that the product manufacturer was aware of your injuries. Request a copy of the report for your records.
Obtain Witness Information
If anyone was present when the defective item injured you, get their names and contact information. They may be able to provide an objective report of how the accident occurred. Their input can be particularly valuable since they have no stake in the outcome of your case.
Keep Documentation
Keep all documents and records related to the accident, including:
- Communications from insurance companies or businesses about your injuries
- Medical reports, including diagnostic test results, doctor’s notes, lab results, surgical reports, and other pertinent medical information
- Pain journal entries that record information about your symptoms, daily pain, response to medical treatment, and your recovery period
- Recall notices
- Wage loss statements
- Pictures or videos of your accident and injuries
- Documentation of other losses you have suffered
Keep the Defective Product
Don’t throw away the defective product. Instead, keep it in its original state, including any packaging, manuals, and receipts.
Consult a Consumer Product Liability Lawyer
Reach out to an experienced consumer product liability attorney as soon as possible who can evaluate your legal options. Early legal involvement can protect you from insurance company tactics designed to minimize your compensation. An experienced attorney can handle your legal claim while you focus on your recovery.
Don’t Give a Recorded Statement
If the product manufacturer contacts you about your injuries, do not agree to give a recorded statement. Instead, refer them to your lawyer.
Don’t Discuss Your Case Publicly
Also, avoid discussing your case on social media or with anyone other than your lawyer.
Contact Cousin Benny Personal Injury for a Free, No-Obligation Consultation
If a defective product injured you or a loved one, an experienced product liability lawyer from Cousin Benny Personal Injury can review your case during a free initial consultation. Contact us today to get started.