It is reasonable to expect that if you pay good money for a product, it should operate safely and work as advertised. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Whether a design issue, a manufacturing defect, or outright negligence, product defects are far too common.

According to product liability law, manufacturers have a legal responsibility to provide consumers with safe products. From design to marketing, manufacturers must supply products in a manner consistent with protecting consumers from danger – or at least advises of any potential risk. Any manufacturer who does not perform these duties adequately may be held liable for any resulting injuries. While virtually any product has the potential to be dangerous, five categories seem to emerge most often in product liability cases.

Electronic Devices: Electronic devices are so prolific in contemporary life that it is hard to imagine living without them. Given how many devices the average person has in their home, they must be designed, manufactured, and marketed safely. Technology is often very reliable; however, product recalls do occur. Devices such as computers and laptops, smartphones, video game consoles, and charging devices have been subject to recall. Often, defects include the device overheating and catching fire, which notoriously happened to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Several consumers were injured, and domestic airlines even banned the product from being on their aircraft.
Medical Devices: Medical devices must be safe, or there can be devastating results. Unfortunately, these types of product defects occur at an unacceptably high rate. Some of the medical devices which have been the subject of high-profile product liability cases include birth control implants (Ensure and Nuvaring) and hip replacement orthopedics (DePuy and Stryker), heart defibrillators (Guidant), and CRRT Dialysis machines (Prisma).
Heavy Equipment: According to OSHA, approximately 400 workers die on the job every month, primarily in industrial capacities. The main reason for these injuries is the heavy machinery that industrial workers handle regularly. Product liability cases often cite equipment such as cranes, forklifts, conveyor belts, bulldozers, and boring machines as causing employee harm. When this equipment is not safe and functional, people can be seriously injured or killed.
Automotive Products: Automotive parts are often intricately involved in situations that could mean the difference between life or death. If you are traveling at high speed and your brakes fail, the results could be catastrophic. If tires blow out unexpectedly, a major crash could occur. The automotive products most often seen in product liability lawsuits are airbags, seatbelts, tires, and brakes.
Appliances: Sadly, the most dangerous products often coexist with us in our homes.
Heat-producing appliances are the most common culprits – such as ovens and stoves, heaters and radiators, fireplaces, dryers, and irons. These appliances can represent danger both in their manufacturers’ production and installation. Depending on which stage of product life the injury occurs, different parties may be found liable.

Product liability cases can arise from any product on the market, either professional or consumer. Whether your injury was caused by a design defect, a manufacturing flaw, or misleading advertising, you may have a case and deserve compensation. If you feel that a defective product has injured you, call the personal injury attorneys at Probinsky & Associates.

Call today to find out more about product defects and the law.