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Defective Product Personal Injury Lawsuits
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Defective Products: True Stories and Interviews
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Defective Autos make for Countless Personal Injuries
Art Masaoka refers to himself as a professional consumer, particularly when it comes to vehicles. Masoaka is also an expert witness for trial purposes on lemon-law cases; he wants to share with other consumers his knowledge of, and experience with, defective automobile products, particularly safety concerns that can lead to personal injury. "The manufacturer makes the same defective repair over and over again until someone gets hurt," says Masaoka. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE AUTO INJURY]
Defective Lamp Crushes Toes
 "I was on the back deck cleaning up my hanging plants," says Judy. "I'd placed the four lamps one in each corner. I lifted one of them to get to a plant and the whole ceramic top rolled off and landed on my foot. I was in total pain." [ MORE: DEFECTIVE WALMART LAMP]
Hair Perm Causes Total Hair Loss
 Crystal had no qualms about letting her sister perm her long luxuriant hair with Dark & Lovely products. But within five minutes of applying the relaxer, she would suffer appalling personal injury--with a burned scalp and total loss of hair. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE BREAST IMPLANTS]
Man claims Medical Device destroyed his Heart
Paramjit Singh had a small heart attack and had to undergo bypass surgery at the Providence Everett Medical Center, which is one of the best cardiac hospitals around. However, things didn't go exactly as expected when Singh didn't awake out of the anesthesia. Instead, he spent six weeks in the hospital before he opened his eyes. [ MORE: MAN CLAIMS DEVICE DESTROYED HEART]
Burned in More Ways than one by Sunbeam Products
Kay was wearing a Sunbeam heating pad over her shoulders when she suffered a grand mal seizure. When she regained consciousness some 20 hours later, the heating pad proved defective and had not automatically shut off as is was supposed to. She found it had burned her on the rib cage and around her back, in some places right through to the bone. [ MORE: BURNED BY SUNBEAM]
Defective Products causing Personal Injury: Get Your Medical Records Now
 Paula Carr was 29 years old when she had breast implants. Paula asked a lot of questions except one: how long would they last? "I thought I would give myself a gift - instead I got a curse," she said. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE BREAST IMPLANTS]
Defective Products By Design
 Keith Allison broke his hip and was fitted with a bipolar prosthesis - designed for treating fractures. Trouble was, it took months of pain to discover that the prosthesis was a defective product. Keith suffered months of personal injury and another surgery from a badly designed and therefore defective, prosthesis. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT DESIGN]
Defective Product Caused Personal Injury
 "I put my head out the window to call my daughter into the house," says Penny. "I moved my head inside but my right hand was on the window sill. Within a split second, the window hurtled down and smashed my fingers. It is about 40 inches wide and a solid wood framed window. Luckily the glass didn't smash. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
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Information on Defective Product Personal Injuries
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Defective product litigation involves defective and unreasonably dangerous products that cause personal injuries and even death. Manufacturers of products are liable for design defects, improper safety devices and manufacturing defects that cause injury.
 Product liability cases usually involve products such as toys, automobile design, household products, industrial machinery and equipment, farm machinery, products causing explosions and burns, aviation products, medical devices or drugs and
any other defective or unreasonably dangerous product.
A "defective product" is one that causes some injury or damage to person because of some defect in the product or its labeling or the way the product was used. The manufacturer, and others involved in the chain of commerce involving the products that caused the injury, are often liable for injuries defective products cause.
"Product liability" include cases such as a mislabeled product that causes injury, an improperly tested drug, vehicles with defective designs such as SUV rollovers, etc.
There are four legal means for establishing liability in personal injury cases where a defective product has caused injury:
- Negligence occurs when expected, reasonable care is not taken and a legal responsibility exists to do so. The lack of care can be the result of carelessness or even malice. Negligence can occur when defective parts or improper assembly results in a dangerous or malfunctioning product.
- Breach of warranty takes place when a seller fails to uphold a claim or promise about a product.
- False advertising that leads consumers to believe a product is safer than it really is, or distracts them from potential risks inherent in the use of a product, can be argued as misrepresentations under breach of warranty or under strict liability.
- "Strict liability" makes the manufacturer or seller of a defective product responsible for all injuries occurring from the use of the product. The victim must show that the product was defective, and that the defect was the cause of the personal injury. If so proven, then strict liability holds the manufacturer or seller responsible, regardless of fault or intent. "Strict liability" means everyone involved in the making of a consumer product is potentially liable for any personal injury that results from using the product.
There are three main types of product defects that can result in a personal injury:
Design defects These occur before the product is created, in the initial design and planning stage.
Manufacturing errors
These flaws result from mistakes that take place during the actual manufacturing stage.
False AdvertisingMarketing misrepresentations occur when sellers do not provide adequate warnings or instructions, or define the potential risks of using the product.
More than one party may be legally responsible for a personal injury, i.e. the designer, manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, advertiser, etc.
You may need to know how old the product is that injured you. Most states have laws limiting how long the manufacturer or seller can be held liable for personal injuries. The limits are usually from six to 12 years after the product was first sold on the market.
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Read More About Defective Product Personal Injury Lawsuits
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Lead detected in Vinyl Infant Products
The Center for Environmental Health has detected alleged elevated levels of lead in infant goods manufactured from vinyl plastic. The alleged lead laden products are: lunchboxes, bibs, vinyl pacifier carrying case, a carrying pouch for a breast pump, and a cooler for holding breast milk. The companies alleged to have produced the products in question are: Medela, RC2, Playtex, and Skip Hop. [ MORE: LEAD IN INFANT PRODUCTS]
Defective Products from China: Come on In!
 People like to think they know all the 'ins and outs' of the contracts they sign, but credit card contracts are often written in language that confuses consumers. Many of the clauses in the contracts give credit card companies the ability to suddenly raise credit cards rates with little or no notice to the customer. Lawsuits against some credit card issuers are forcing them to deal more fairly with their consumers. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE CHINESE PRODUCTS]
Defective Products: Warnings about ATV, CPSC Powerless
 Lately, a plethora of defective products have been linked to China - everything from tainted wheat gluten showing up in pet food to diethylene glycol in kiddie toothpaste. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE ATV]
Consumer Product Safety Commission Keeps the Recalls Coming
A common thread ran through all five products subjected to voluntary recalls on May 31 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). While the products ranged from candles to cribs, all of them were made in Asia—primarily, China. [ MORE: PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION RECALLS]
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Defective Product Personal Injury Press Releases
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MAY-06-08: As many as 10 companies have been targeted in eight lawsuits that have been filed against them. The lawsuits claim that a heating system malfunctioned in a student complex back in 2005 that released carbon monoxide into some apartments. One person was killed and others within those apartments became sick. [ MORE: HEATING SYSTEM LAWSUIT]
 MAR-23-08: The number of children injured or killed by dangerous and defective children's products has more than doubled in the past five years. Toys head up the list of culprits, followed by furniture and arts and crafts supplies. [ MORE: KIDS PLAY]
MAR-20-08: Several Utah State University students were either killed or injured in a 2005 van crash in which their families are claiming was due to defective tires. The case was taken to federal appeals court on Tuesday March 18, 2008 in hopes to gain access to the internal files belonging to the tire manufacturer. [ MORE: USU CRASH]
 MAR-06-08: Pain pumps popularly used for pain relief after shoulder and knee surgery are coming under severe suspicion by the medical community. These are intra-articular pain pumps are placed at the site of the surgery. The pumps are designed to run either electrically or from a motor. Two pumps in particular have been suspected of causing difficulty in patients who used them after surgical procedures. [ MORE: DEFECTIVE PAIN PUMPS]
MAR-01-08: A massive crib recall was issued on Thursday by safety officials and they warned parents that they should not put their babies in their beds with soft bedding such as pillows due to the risk of suffocation. [ MORE: FAULTY CRIB RAILING]
FEB-29-08: US Supreme Court justices have made a ruling that defends the rights of companies that produce defective products. Manufacturers that produce devices for medical procedures such as knee and hip prosthetics, heart defibrillators, and breast implants are being granted immunity from being sued by patients for defects. [ MORE: US SUPREME COURT DEFENDS DEFECTIVE PRODUCT COMPANIES]
JUN-23-08: On February 21st the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, in concert with Rinnai America Corp, announced a voluntary product safety recall involving the defective product Rinnai EnergySaver Direct-Vent Wall Furnace, due to a potential carbon monoxide hazard. [ MORE: TOY RECALL]
 JUN-15-07: In co-operation with RC2 Corp of Oak Brook, Ill, the CPSC has announced a voluntary recall of Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys after it was found that surface paints contain lead. [ MORE: FURNACE RECALL]
 JUN-01-07: A coalition of consumer groups came together to fight Baroody's appointment. Coalition members included the Center for Environmental Health, Center for Justice and Democracy, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Kids in Danger, Public Citizen, Saferparks, etc. [ MORE: PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION]
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Defective Product Personal Injury Lawsuits in the News:
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JAN-22-08: Stamina Products, the maker of mini-trampolines, have agreed to a $105,000 settlement to resolve a lawsuit alleging it failed to report injuries caused by its defective equipment. [ PORTFOLIO: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
JAN-14-08: A lawsuit has been filed against around 60 defendants alleging that their use of asbestos resulted in a man's catastrophic illness. Other defendants were named for producing defective masks that did not provide protection against the asbestos. [ RECORD: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
JAN-12-08: Many tobacco-related lawsuits have been filed in Florida recently after the Supreme Court made the filing of such lawsuits easier. The court also upheld a verdict that found tobacco companies sold defective products that caused illness. [ NEWS-JOURNAL: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
JAN-5-08: Diamond Pet Foods has agreed to a $3.1 million settlement for pet owners whose pets were injured or killed after eating defective dog food produced by the company. [ CBS: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
DEC-29-07: A woman filed a lawsuit against Nissan alleging her car was defective, resulting in her receiving serious injuries in a car accident. [ RECORD: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
DEC-28-07: A married couple who was seriously injured in a helicopter crash has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the helicopter and the companies that built it. The plaintiffs allege that the helicopter had defective parts. [ KGMB: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
DEC-21-07: A jury in Texas awarded a family $5.5 million after it found that Johnson & Johnson’s pain patch was defective and caused the death of a woman. The FDA has now put a second safety warning on the patches. [ BLOOMBERG: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
DEC-21-07: Medtronic will pay $114.1 million to settle a lawsuit alleging its Marquis line of implanted cardiac defibrillators was defective. [ WALL STREET JOURNAL: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
DEC-17-07: An appeals court has reinstated a $1.7 million verdict in a lawsuit filed after a woman died in a fire cause by a defective dishwasher. [ STAR: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
DEC-13-07: Merck faces a lawsuit alleging it knew that its drug, Fosamax, was defective and actually bribed physicians to prescribe the drug. The plaintiff claims she suffered jaw death as a result of taking Fosamax. [ RECORD: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
DEC-10-07: Medtronic Inc. faces a class action lawsuit in Canada alleging the company failed to warn consumers about a defect in its defibrillator batteries. [ NEWS INFERNO: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT INJURY]
DEC-06-07: A man has filed a lawsuit against LG Electronics, alleging the company's refrigerator is defective. According to the suit, the fridge dispenses water and ice cubes laced with toxins. [ NORTH JERSEY: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
NOV-29-2007: Ford has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that argued its Explorer Sport Utility Vehicles were prone to rollovers. The settlement will apply to around one million people. [ RTT NEWS: DEFECTIVE PRODUCT]
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Defective Product Personal Injury Lawyers
If you have been injured using a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, please click the link below to submit your complaint to a personal injury attorney who will evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation.
Posted on Jan-10-05
Updated on May-6-08
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