Orlando Product Liability Lawyer

It is not only people that cause serious injuries through negligent acts; indeed, everyday consumer products are also at fault. However, those products are, of course, produced by people within a company or corporation, and those entities deserve to pay for the damage that they cause by their carelessness. While the vast majority of consumer products are not dangerous when used as designed, there are products everywhere that can cause sickness, injury, and even death. Included in the list of dangerous goods are faulty tires, medical devices, prescription drugs, children’s toys, vehicle brakes, airbags, bicycle parts, food, and electronic devices. There is not realm of industry in existence that is without a products liability incident to dirty its hands. If you have been injured by a dangerous product of any kind, you deserve to be compensated. Contact an experienced Orlando products liability lawyer to discuss your options today.

Product Recalls Due to Faulty Design Or Construction

Numerous products get recalled from the U.S. market every year, though only the major incidents make the headlines. In recent years spinach and meat have been recalled in massive quantities due to salmonella contamination. In fact, these types of recalls are an ongoing event. In October of 2015, Dole recalled its bagged spinach in 13 states, according to CNN. Salmonella is a potentially fatal bacteria that infects one million people annually, hospitalizes 19,000, and kills 380 each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Product recalls don’t stop with food. In just the period of a month, there were a plethora of dangerous or faulty products that were recalled in 2015 and 2016. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, The Dollar Tree recalled its burn relief gel due to unsafe child resistant packaging, Skip Hop recalled its crib mobiles (for babies) due to an injury hazard posed by a weak strap, and Bevill recalled its pressure cooker due to the burn risk presented by its product. The list goes on and on, and unfortunately thousands of people never hear that a potential item they own is on such a recall list. And, not all dangerous items are recalled. In fact, there are countless numbers of dangerous consumer products that are never recalled, yet end up causing harm to Americans every year. Common injuries from consumer products, chemicals, and food include sickness of varying severity, including rashes, the development of asthma, and cancer; lacerations; contusions; electrocucion; broken bones; traumatic brain injuries; spinal cord injuries; dental injuries; eye and face injuries; and more.

Elements of a Product Liability Case

In order to win a claim for damages brought against the manufacturer of a defective or dangerous product, a plaintiff must prove numerous elements. This begins with establishing the type of product liability claim that is being pursued– a manufacturing error, design error, or labeling/warning error.

A manufacturing defect refers to a product that is defective because of an error made during the manufacturing process, not because of the product’s inherently defective design. For example, a tire may be designedproperly, but because of a problem during the manufacturing process, the adhesive that is critical to the tire’s tread is contaminated, and therefore rendered ineffective.

A design defect, on the other hand, refers to a defect that is inherent in the design of the product. For example, a car that is designed to be top-heavy may be at an inherent risk of rolling over, or a chair may be inherently defective because it is not designed to support the weight of the average person, yet is marketed for adults.

Finally, a product may have a labeling/warning defect, in which something about the product’s label is defective. For example, if the product has some danger that is inherent, but the benefits of using the product outweigh the risks, then the manufacturer must put this risk on the warning label (i.e. a hair dryer contains a warning about the risk of electrocution). Examples of the label requirement include the fact that prescription drugs must list side effects, and certain products must provide instructions for proper use.

If you think that you have a product liability claim, in order to be successful in your case, you will need to prove:

• The product is defective (manufacturing, design, or labeling error);
• You were using the product as intended;
• The product defect was the direct cause of harm; and
• You suffered damages as a result, such as economic and noneconomic losses.

Remember, the list of potentially defective products is expansive. If you think that you’ve been harmed and that a product defect is to blame, you should call a lawyer for a free case consultation. 

Who Can Be Held Liable for Injury Caused by a Defective Product?

It’s important to note that the list of who can be held liable for an injury caused by a defective product does not end with the product manufacturer; instead, anyone along the manufacturing chain may be held liable for harm depending upon degree of negligence. In addition to the product manufacturer, a shipper or loader of the product (if the product was rendered defective in transit), a distributor of the product, a party responsible for repair of the product, and more may be named in a product liability suit.

Our Orlando lawyers can investigate your case to determine exactly how your injuries occurred, the type of defective product case you have, who might be named in your product liability suit, and how much your case may be worth.

An Experienced Orlando Products Liability Lawyer On Your Side

In order to prove liability in any litigation, we must be able to prove that you were using the product in its intended function, you took any safety protocols listed on the packaging, and that the injuries you or your family sustained were, indeed, caused by the product. An lawyer is vital in a successful lawsuit or settlement when going up against businesses and large corporations. If you have been injured by a dangerous product, contact an experienced Orlando products liability lawyer today at The Pendas Law Firm at 1-844-200-0000. We will advocate aggresively on your behalf.