Thousands of injuries, including death, occur annually due to dangerous or defective products. The manufacturer or seller may be liable for injuries resulting from their defective products. A product liability attorney can help determine if an individual is entitled to compensation for their product related injury and help get that compensation.
What types of defects fall under product liability?
1) Design defect
A product has a defective design if it has an intended feature that was unsafe and resulted in an injury. All products from the same line would have the same design defect. For example, a crib whose bars are too far apart can pose a safety risk for babies. A baby may get a limb caught between the bars or get a head lodged in the crib. Since the bars were designed to have an unsafe distance between them, this is a design flaw. A car with a faulty gas cap design, a shoe with poor traction, and injury from chemicals in a product (e.g., asbestos) are additional examples of unsafe designs.
2) Manufacturing defect
A product has a manufacturing defect if something happened while the product was being made to make it unsafe. The product fell short of its intended design due to poor assembly or substandard components. A manufacturing defect will not affect an entire line of a product. Instead, only one or a small number of products will be impacted. For example, a stuffed toy created with plastic eyes could be completely safe for young children. If one toy did not have an eye properly attached, either due to a faulty eye piece or incorrect assembly, it could come off during play and become a choking hazard.
3) Marketing defect
If a product has a safe design and was manufactures correctly, it could still cause injury from a marketing defect. Inadequate or missing instructions and/or warnings on the safe and appropriate use of a product constitute a marketing defect. For example, if a medication does not have a warning label explaining possible drug interactions and side effects, the safe use of this medication is compromised and results in a marketing defect.
Who can help?
Contact a product liability attorney at website for legal consultation and help with a product liability claim. You can also connect them on Facebook.
