What You Need to Know About Product Defects and Related Injuries

When you buy something from the store, you assume it's safe to use as directed. However, accidents happen, including when manufacturing products. For this reason, entire sections of laws exist regarding product defect injuries. If you or someone you love has been injured by a product, keep reading to learn more.

What Are the Categories of Product Defects?

Product defects can be separated into three categories: design defect, manufacturing defect, and a marketing defect.

If the product has a design defect, it usually means the product itself was not designed well for its intended purposes. When this happens, the product is often recalled because if the design had flaws, likely all the products have flaws.

In some cases, a product can be designed well, but something happens during manufacturing that makes the product dangerous and/or defective. This usually only affects a batch of products that were manufactured incorrectly. The correctly manufactured product should continue to be safe.

Finally, marketing defects can also make a product dangerous. Marketing defects, despite the name, actually have more to do with how the product is presented or packaged. This includes missing warning labels and instructions. If the missing information leads to injury, the courts may approve lawsuits involving the product.

Who Is Responsible for Product Defects?

If you do get injured by a product defect, a lot of people may be responsible. Products don't go from the manufacturing floor to your home. A process of distribution happens, which involves a lot of people - a lot of people who perhaps should have caught the defect. For this reason, not only can you usually sue the manufacturer, but you may be able to sue others involved as well.

You can usually sue the retailer who sold the product. This is true even if they had nothing to do with designing or manufacturing the product. You don't even have to be the one who purchased or used the defective product. For example, you may have borrowed the item from someone else or lent a defective item you own to someone.

Luckily, you don't usually have to prove anything in strict liability claims. This is because manufacturers have a responsibility for any defects during manufacturing. If the manufacturer breached a duty that caused the injury, you may be able to sue for negligence, but in cases of negligence, you have to prove the negligence to win your settlement.

Do Some Dangerous Products Have Protection?

Some products are dangerous by nature, and no way exists to change it. For example, toxic chemicals are dangerous when used incorrectly. The courts assume you know this when buying these products, so you knowingly take on a risk. For this reason, you can't likely sue a chemical company for burns because you used their bleach wrong.

If the company did not provide sufficient warnings, however, the courts may determine it is a manufacturing defect. Similarly, if you followed all the directions perfectly and still ended up getting hurt, the courts may feel the manufacturer is responsible.

On the other hand, if you used the product incorrectly, such as modifying a motorcycle by adding parts or using cleaning product without gloves (despite warnings and instructions), the courts may blame you for your own injury and refuse to approve your claim.

If a product causes you injury, despite following all directions and heeding all warnings, you may be able to sue for a fair settlement for your injuries and medical bills. For more information about product defect law and liability, or if you want to schedule a consultation, contact us at the law offices of Wegner & Associatestoday.