Defective Product Liability
What is defective product liability?
Defective product liability arises when a consumer is harmed by the use of any unsafe product that is sold through the market. The number of such incidents is increasing day by day. According to the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission, in 2007 alone defective product injuries were over 232,000.
How is it caused?
The liability for injuries caused by a product mainly arises from negligence, breach of warranty, consumer protection claims, and strict liability. The manufacturers of the product, the distributors and the retailers are all held liable for the injuries caused by those products. Defective product liability in the United States is based on manufacturing defect, design defect, or failure to warn. Defects can also be caused by poor quality of the material or workmanship. If the design of the product is inherently dangerous or renders the product useless, then it is a design defect. The failure on the part of the manufacturer to warn the user of non obvious dangers the product can cause, is a failure to warn defect.
What are the steps to be taken?
If you happen to be a victim of defective product injury, then you have to act quickly. This is because there is a stipulated time to file a complaint failing which you will not be entitled to any compensation. The first step is to make sure that the product you purchased was truly defective and that your injury was caused because of the use of the defective product. A visit to U.S. Product Safety Commission will give you enough information about defective product, product safety, etc. Next, try and locate a good product liability attorney who can help you throughout the case and ensure that you are properly compensated. Once an attorney is located, you must give all necessary details which include proof of injury, proof that the injury was caused by defective product, witnesses if any, etc.
Potential settlement, verdicts, and examples
There are many kinds of settlement in a defective product liability case. Usually, if you win the case, you will be compensated for the injury and all medical treatment costs will be borne by the manufacturer. The court makes sure that the verdicts send clear messages to the manufacturers that any such incident will be heavily penalized. Some of the recent examples of defective product liability settlements include:
- Bridge collapse in May of 2008 in Minnesota where the compensation amount was $38 million US dollars.
- The prescription drug defect in April of 2006 was compensated with $32 million US dollars.
Such verdicts have made manufacturers very vigilant and consumers very relieved. However, getting monetary benefits is certainly not a good compensation for the pain you suffer that results from the use of a defective product. Therefore, make sure that you are purchasing a good product of top quality. Even if the price is a bit high, always opt for the good quality products. Good and safe products always come with a higher price!