Buyers, users, and other injured persons can sue for damages or injuries caused by dangerous and defective products.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, roughly 29.5 million injuries and 22,000 deaths are connected to defective products. The injuries, deaths, and associated property damage from defective products cost over $500 billion each year.

If you have become injured or become ill due to a defective product you may have a right to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer, wholesaler, and in some cases, the retail storeowner.

Product Liability lawsuits allow an injured person to seek financial compensation from the manufacturing company or retailer of the defective product. The most common claims associated with Product Liability are:

• Negligence – the product manufacturer’s failure to exercise reasonable care;
• Strict liability – the fact that the product is dangerous and caused injury is often sufficient for the manufacturer to have legal responsibility for damages or injuries to a person;
• Breach of warranty is the manufacturer’s or product seller’s failure to follow through on the warranty offered with the product; and
• Consumer protection claims.

Each type of claim requires an experienced attorney to prove different elements in court in order for the claim to be successful.

To win in court, one must prove that the product is defective. There are three types of product defects that potentially create liability for manufacturers and suppliers:

• Design defects are inherent and exist prior to the product being manufactured. The product may serve its purpose well, but it may be unreasonably dangerous to use as designed.
• Manufacturing defects occur during the construction or production of the item. Only a few out of many products of the same type are flawed in this case, and
• Defects in marketing deal with improper instructions and failures to warn consumers of latent dangers in the product.

If you have been injured by a defective product, please contact the Metz Law Group today at 206-538-2745.