We all use different products every day: products like the toaster that helps make breakfast, the car we drive or any number of the other products we all use on a daily basis. The law requires that these products be reasonably safe and free from defects that can cause injury. When a defective product causes harm, there may be a basis to seek damages in a product liability lawsuit. Here are some things you should know if you were injured by a defective product.
What is a Products Liability Case?
A product liability case is a type of personal injury claim filed on behalf of a party injured by a defective product. These types of cases are usually decided on the competing testimony of engineering experts – one claiming that the product is defective, and the other claiming that the product is perfectly safe. It is important to know that you cannot establish that a product is defective just because it caused an injury. Instead, to win a product liability lawsuit, you must show that the product was:
- Defective in design; or
- Defective in manufacture; or
- Lacked adequate warnings.
What Is a Defective Design Case?
A product is defectively designed when the product, as designed, has a dangerous safety problem. This type of case requires an engineering expert to explain the design defect, and how the safety problem should have been designed out of the product. Defectively designed products are far more common that you think. For example, car companies will sometimes recall a particular model car because of a defect, at times a design defect, that is potentially dangerous. These types of recalls can include problems with brakes, ignition systems and air bags. In fact, the government has a website that you can check to see if your car has any known product defects that are potentially dangerous. There are also many other types of defective product design cases, including cases of defectively designed breast implants, Remington rifles and exploding gas cans – to name just a few.
What is a Manufacturing Defect Case?
Unlike a design defect, a manufacturing defect occurs when a product is defective because of a problem the occurs during the manufacturing process. As a result, although the product may have been designed properly, the product is defective because it was not manufactured up to the specifications required by the product’s design plans. For example, a manufacturing defect occurs when the steel of a car’s axel breaks because the hardware used at the factory was not the correct size or grade required by the product’s design plans.
What is a Failure To Warn Case?
Manufacturers also have an obligation to warn consumers about the potential risks of a product’s use. As a result, products must have clear, legible and accurate warning labels and instructions that disclose potential hazards. So, if an aersol can is likely to explode if used near a fire, the law requires a warning. Similarly if the medication you are taking is dangerous when taken with another medication – this must be disclosed.
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If you have any questions concerning your product liability case, you can contact our experienced product liability attorneys by email or calling (800) 762-9300. You can also simply fill out one of our product liability case intake forms, and we will have one of our attorneys get right back to you.
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