INJURED? LET US HELP YOU
What is Product Liability?
Product liabilty in St. Louis is when a defective product has caused an injury to you or a loved one. Under Missouri law, you are entitled to bring a claim against the manufacturer, seller, or distributor to receive compensation for harms and losses suffered as a result.
Defects can happen for a number of reasons but, in many cases, it’s because companies rush products to market without ensuring they are safe so that they can drive the maximum amount of profits. They then don’t take the time to warn the public of known dangers.
These defects can fall into three major categories:
- Design defects – These are defects that are inherent in the product design; thus, each product produced from this initial design is dangerous. If you suspect a design defect was responsible for your injury, you may be required to prove or show that a another safer design could’ve been used by the manufacturer. Examples of defectively designed products could include space heaters that catch fire due to improper wiring, airbags that unnecessarily deploy without impact, cars that are top-heavy and are more likely to tip over even in minor car accidents, etc.
- Manufacturing defects – These are defects in the manufacturing stage in which the product is not created as it should be according to its intended design. This can affect only one or millions of units sold and may occur at any stage during the product’s construction. Examples of manufacturing defects could include cars with defective brakes that cause brake failure accidents, children’s bicycles assembled without the necessary bolts that keep wheels attached, tires that were originally designed to hold up against wear and tear but a mistake in the manufacturing caused a tire blowout.
- Warning defects – This is a failure (or defect) in the marketing of potentially dangerous products to consumers. In short, when the product doesn’t come with the necessary warnings and/or instructions, there are significant risks of injury. Examples can include prescription drugs that do not list all the potential side effects, booster seats that lack instruction on the proper weight in which a child should be in order to safely use them, etc.
Types of Product Liability Cases We Handle
Think about how many products you and your family use in a day. From appliances and toys to cars and medicines, we rely on our products in every aspect of our lives. However, keep in mind that every single one of these products can have a design, manufacturing, or marketing defect that carries the significant potential of causing you or someone you love harm.
While ANY product can possibly be used in a product liability case — as long as it caused you an injury of some kind — some of the most common defective products cases we handle include:
- Defective consumer products – such as kitchen appliances, HVAC systems, cell phones, laptops, e-cigarettes, power tools, yard equipment, smoke detectors, cleaning products, etc.
- Defective vehicle parts such as brakes, air bags, tires, seat belts, fuel systems, steering components, etc.
- Defective medical equipment such as implants, heart valves, prostheses, etc.
- Defective children’s products such as toys, child safety seats, choking hazards, etc.
- Dangerous prescription drugs such as birth control pills, anti-psychotics, etc.
- Contaminated food such as pre-packaged food or produce containing Salmonella and E. coli
Put simply, if a product of any kind caused an injury that was preventable, you might be able to receive compensation for your losses involving medical costs, loss of income, and more. Contact a product liabilty lawyer in St. Louis, MO, to learn more.
While the products that may have caused your injury may be commonplace, The Hayden Law Firm believes that every injury and every case is unique. We take the time to listen to you so that we learn every detail of your case. This allows us to ensure you understand everything going on with your case, from point a to point b.
