Product Liability
Each year in Florida, thousands of people are seriously injured or killed by dangerous or defective products. Florida law recognizes the fact that consumers have no way of knowing whether the products they purchase are safe; we have to rely on the manufacturers, distributors and retailers to take the proper steps to ensure only safe products are put on store shelves. For this reason, manufacturers can be held strictly liable for injuries caused by their defective or dangerously unsafe products. As an experienced civil litigator with a solid legal team, attorney Sarah Steinbaum is ready to take on the biggest manufacturers and corporations in the country and hold them accountable for personal injury or wrongful death caused by product defects. Call us for a free consultation and get immediate help with your claims.
Types of Product Defects
There are countless ways in which products can be dangerously defective and cause serious injury or death because of their defects, but product defects are generally classified into three different groups: design defects, manufacturing defects, and failure to warn or marketing defects.
Design defects occur when a product is not designed according to required safety standards, or when a poor design makes the product dangerously unsafe. For instance, power tools and household appliances like space heaters or irons should be designed with safety guards to protect against sharp edges or hot surfaces, and they should be designed to shut off automatically if they are left on too long or tip over. Automobiles designed with their fuel lines running too close to electrical wires could spark an explosion in an otherwise minor crash. The best-selling book Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader exposed the dangerously defective designs in many automobiles, as well as the auto industry’s reluctance to make design changes for safety that would only add a few dollars or cents to the cost of the car.
Manufacturing defects occur when a product is not made correctly according to the design specifications. Manufacturers might use substandard materials that fail at a critical moment, or errors in the assembly line could lead to a product having missing components or being assembled incorrectly. A failure to conduct quality control tests at the factory can also lead to defectively manufactured products getting to market.
When a product is defectively designed, every unit made contains that defect. With manufacturing defects, the defect might exist in only one unit, one lot, or thousands, so it can be harder to know if a particular unit is defective. Defective drugs and contaminated food are often recalled due to failures in the production process.
Failure to warn or marketing defects occur when products do not contain sufficient warnings to consumers about the dangers associated with the product, or when product packaging doesn’t include adequate instructions to consumers about how to use the product safely and correctly. Examples include household cleaners and industrial solvents that must be used with personal protective equipment or in a well-ventilated area, or children’s toys or furniture that come unassembled. Instructions and warnings should be clear and conspicuous and included on the package or inserted material or even on the product itself.
Risks of Injury and Death From Defective Products
The risks of injury and death from defective products are too numerous to mention. They include the risk of electric shock, fire, loss of limb, crushing injuries, poisoning, and countless other dangers. Too often, the victims of product defects are children who are sold cheaply made products that break apart, presenting choking hazards, fire risks, suffocation and other devastating tragedies. The experienced injury litigators at Sarah Steinbaum PA take on the largest manufacturers and hold them accountable for their preventable failures in designing and manufacturing consumer products. Our product liability practice includes all the following types of products, among others:
- Dangerous drugs
- Defective medical devices
- Household appliances
- Power tools
- Cleaning products
- Automobiles and auto parts
- Children’s toys
- Children’s bedding and furniture
Contact Sarah Steinbaum PA Today
Not only are product defect injuries preventable, but the same problems and the same injuries continue to occur, year after year. Defective products are often not recalled or removed from shelves until after there have been enough reports of injuries for the companies to take notice and decide it would be a smart business decision for them to recall the product. Meanwhile, people continue to suffer. Sarah Steinbaum PA stands up for injured victims and their families. Through civil litigation, we can force companies to change their practices and make the world safer while ensuring that people harmed by these defective products get the financial help and support they need.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a defective product in Florida, call Sarah Steinbaum PA at 305-358-7676 for a free consultation.
