Designed to Serve, Destined to Harm: Understanding Product Liability Claims

Life is all about convenience. At this very moment, several companies in various parts of the world are making a product that will make your life convenient in one way or another. Think about the products you use daily. From the sunscreen that protects your skin from sunburn to the toaster and blender, you use for breakfast and even the vehicle you use to get to work. They are all made by a company dedicated to making your life convenient.

But sometimes, these products can be counterintuitive in their function. For example, the vehicle you drive to work may have a design flaw that causes the airbags to deploy prematurely, causing injury. Such ironic situations fall under product liability. It is a branch of personal injury law that allows you to seek compensation from the at-fault party should you sustain injury from a defective item.

This comprehensive blog will dissect product liability claims to better understand what you should do if you find yourself a victim. Have a read below:

Understanding Product Liability Claims

If you suffer injury from a recently purchased product and it was not your fault, you can launch a class action lawsuit against the manufacturer. It will likely fall under any of the following categories:

• Manufacturing Defect Claims
• Design Defect Claims and Liability
• Failure to Warn Product Liability Claims

Manufacturing Defect Claims

Manufacturing defect claims cover situations where a product malfunction causes you injury. Let us look at an example:

You decide to buy a car. On a bright morning, you head over to your local Louisiana dealership. A beautiful vehicle from a renowned manufacturer catches your eye. It has everything you need. It steals your heart, and you buy it.

Unbeknownst to you, the manufacturer missed substandard material when manufacturing the braking system, which will haunt you later. And sure enough, during one of your daily commutes to work, the brakes fail, you rear-end another vehicle on the freeway, and suffer a whiplash injury.

Here, the car manufacturer deviated from safe product design practices by using substandard materials when manufacturing the vehicle’s brakes. Under such circumstances, you can file a lawsuit based on negligence, strict liability, or warranty breach.

Design Defect Claims

As you can infer from the name, design defect claims arise when a product’s inherent design is unsafe and causes harm to the user. So, the overarching question in such claims is, did the manufacturer exercise reasonable care during the design process?

For example, you may have purchased a toy marketed for children ages three and up for your infant. The toy design includes small detachable parts that allow the child to customize it. One day, your child detaches one of the small parts, puts it in their mouth, and starts choking, requiring urgent medical attention.

In such a scenario, you can file a product liability claim against the toy manufacturer, arguing that the toy’s inherent design is unsafe for the targeted age group due to the choking hazard it poses.

Failure to Warn Product Liability Claims

Koplfer & Hermann explain, “Failure to warn claims are common in medical and drug-related product liability claims. Suppose the manufacturer, seller, or designer fails to warn about the risk the purchased product poses adequately. In case of injury, you can file a product liability claim against them,” says personal injury attorney Joseph G. Kopfler of Kopfler & Hermann.

For instance, you purchased a hair shampoo from a local retailer. You use the same shampoo for years and eventually develop cancer, which your physician links to the product. You can sue the product manufacturer for failing to provide adequate warnings about the risks of the shampoo.

Who is Liable?

From whom should you seek compensation for damages due to product liability? The chain of liability is long, but it mostly rotates around three parties:

• Product Manufacturers- You can hold the manufacturer responsible for design flaws and defects under their control. If the manufacturer fails to warn you about the product risk, you can hold them accountable.
• Owners– If someone misused the product and this was the basis of your injury, you can also hold them responsible under a product liability claim
• Sellers- The chain of liability also extends to the party that sold you the product, especially if they were aware of the defective conditions or design flaws.

Conclusion

Product liability claims can be incredibly complex. While you can handle them alone, advice from a personal injury lawyer is recommended as they understand the law and how it applies to such cases.