What is Product Liability?

Defective or deficient consumer products that cause injuries to consumers can be the subjects of products liability lawsuits. Product liability refers to the responsibility of any party along the manufacturing and supply chain for product defects; the manufacturer or assembler, wholesaler, or retailer of a product can be held liable for a defect for which they are responsible. Despite the grumblings of product manufacturers alleging frivolous lawsuits by consumers, less than two-tenths of one percent of personal injury cases are product liability cases (Larry S. Stewart, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Handling Products Liability Cases in the New Millennium," July, 2002), even though thousands of people in the U.S. each year are injured from defective and recalled consumer products (Source: U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission, 2003).

Frequently recalled products include cars, pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs, children's toys, defective articles of clothing, common household electrical equipment, and many other types of defective products. The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission issues an average of three consumer product recalls each week. Despite the best efforts of regulators, dangerous products slip into the supply chain every day, and can affect your health permanently. If you or a loved one has been damaged by what you suspect was a defective or dangerous product or drug, consider securing the counsel of a personal injury lawyer experienced in product liability cases.

Liability in Defective Product Cases

To win a product liability case, an injured person must prove that the product was defective and caused harm. A product can be defective in its design, manufacture, or marketing.

Design Defects

A product is defective if it possesses inherent defects in its design, such as in the case of a sport utility vehicle that is prone to rollover because its weight is not distributed equally across its frame, or a child's toy that contains sharp points or edges. While the product might serve its intended purpose, it can be unreasonably dangerous because of such a design flaw. Product recalls, clinical trial evidence or scientific testing of products by consumer organizations that prove such design flaws might be brought as evidence in such a case.

Manufacturing Defects

A manufacturing defect is one that occurs during the construction, production, or assembly of the product while it is in possession of the manufacturer. A circuit board that is incorrectly wired, a sneaker sole that is improperly attached to the fabric of the shoe, or an over-the-counter drug that is combined with the wrong amount of ingredients would be examples of manufacturing defects.

Defects in Marketing

Marketing defects are those in which the marketing materials used to promote the product for sale contains improper, incomplete, or misleading product instructions. Product manufacturers and sellers have a responsibility to ensure that their products are used in the manner for which they were designed, and that the consumer is warned of any risk involved in the purchase or use of the product. This is called a "post-sale duty" and it extends to any business or organization that is responsible for the marketing and selling of a defective product. If a defective product has injured you, consult with the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin to see if we can help.

Unavoidably Unsafe Products

Some products cannot be made safer and still maintain their usefulness to consumers, such as products requiring electricity, knives that must be sharp to be used effectively, guns, or gas grills. While consumers may be able to minimize the risks of these types of products, manufacturers of unavoidably unsafe products should give proper warnings of the dangers and risks of their products. If consumers are not warned of the potential risks of using a product, they cannot make informed decisions about using them. Some examples of reasonable warnings are a warning inside a car that children may be damaged by airbags if they are placed in the front seat of cars, or a warning to dispose of the plastic bag encasing a toy immediately due to the risk of suffocation from plastic bags.