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Each year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issues approximately 400 recalls for products that are dangerous or defective. Last month alone (April 2020), there were 23 products recalled, including ATVs, electric appliances, children products, and essential oils, because they posed a dangerous risk to consumers.
Any company that designs and/or manufactures products has a legal obligation to make sure these products are safe and do not post any unnecessary risks to the consumers who purchase them. As the millions of recalled products show, there are far too many errors and other acts of carelessness that can result in product defects that cause injury or death to unsuspecting consumers.
When a person is injured or killed because of a defective or dangerous product, the victim may be able to pursue damages against the party or parties responsible. This can be done through a product liability lawsuit. This legal action can be taken by either the victim or the victim’s family in cases of fatalities in order to obtain any financial compensation they may be entitled to for the losses the defective product has caused.
Types of Defective Product Lawsuits
All kinds of defective products can be involved in product liability lawsuits, including defective medical devices, children’s products, and vehicle parts. Some of the products are deemed dangerous because their designs are flawed. The product may contain toxic substances, be structurally unstable, present choking hazard risks for children, or some other danger.
Other dangers can occur during the manufacturing of the product. For example, there can be contamination during medication or food manufacturing, parts can be missing in some products or the product may not be assembled properly.
In some cases, the danger may be because of how the product is marketed to consumers. An example of a marketing defect is when a company fails to provide sufficient instructions for proper use of the product or fails to provide warnings of potential dangers or side effects the use of the product may pose.
Proving Liability
In order for a Virginia defective product attorney to be successful in a lawsuit, it is essential they prove that the victim’s injuries were a direct result of the defective product and that the losses the victim has suffered were a result of the injuries the product causes. The victim must have been using the product as it was intended to be used when the injury occurred and that no one had altered or modified the product after it was sold.
Some of the losses a victim can be compensated for include the medical expenses they incurred for treatment of the injuries (emergency room treatment, surgery, hospital stays, rehabilitation, medication, etc.), loss of income from being unable to work while they recover, pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and more.
A Virginia personal injury attorney can evaluate a victim’s case to determine how much financial compensation they may be entitled to. If the victim died because of their injury, their survivors may pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
Contact a Va. Defective Product Attorney for Help
At Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp, our Virginia product liability attorneys know how devastating a defective product accident can be for a family. Our personal injury firm represented the estate of a man who was killed when the lawnmower he was on exploded and burnt him to death Not only was the manufacturer aware that the plastic fuel tank and fuel line connection was insecure, but they had designed a new fuel tank within a year after the victim had purchased his mower and never alerted consumers of the prior defect.
The company also denied there were any other reports of fires caused by their lawnmower, but an intensive investigation by our attorneys revealed not only were there other reports, but that the company was fully aware these reports existed. The jury found in favor of the victim’s family with an award of $2.5 million.
If you or someone in your family has been a victim of a defective or dangerous product, call our office to speak with a Virginia personal injury attorney today at (833) 997-1774 for a free and confidential case evaluation.
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