Sometimes products break. It could be our fault, but sometimes it is due to faulty manufacturing. If you have been hurt or have underwent any other pain or suffering, or damage to your property because of a product you used, you may have a defective product liability claim. The range of defective product cases is broad, and claims usually fall into one of three categories of product liability:
- Defective manufacture
- Defective design
- Failure to provide adequate warnings or instructions concerning the proper use of the product
For each of these claims, you must show not only that the product was defective, but that the defect caused your injury.
The most obvious type of product liability claim is when the product that caused the injury was defectively manufactured.
A defectively manufactured product is faulty because of some error in making it. It could have been a problem at the factory where it was made. As a result, product that caused the harm is somehow different from all the other ones on the shelf.
Examples of a manufacturing defect include:
- A bicycle with a cracked chain
- A tainted batch of baby formula containing a poisonous substance
- A motorcycle missing its brake pads
With defective design, a product’s design is inherently dangerous or defective. Defective design claims involve the claim that an entire line of products is fundamentally dangerous, even though the product that caused harm was perfectly made according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Examples of a design defect include:
- A children’s toy has a tendency to flip over while children are using it as directed
- A type of sunglasses that fail to protect the eyes from ultraviolet rays
- A line of toasters that can electrocute the user when turned on high
The last type of product liability claim includes a failure to provide adequate warnings or instructions about the product’s proper use. Failure-to-warn claims typically involve a product that is dangerous in some way that’s not obvious to the user or that requires the user to utilize special precautions or attentiveness when using it.
Examples of a failure-to-warn claim include:
- Failing to warn that the seats in a car might collapse backwards in an accident if the driver was overweight
- An allergy medicine that does not include on its label a warning that it may cause dangerous side effects if taken in combination with another commonly taken drug such as aspirin, or
- Model car paint that is sold without adequate instructions for safe handling and use
Last Updated on April 18, 2017 by The Orlando Law Group
