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Dangerous and Defective Products

Injuries caused by defective or dangerous products are governed by the law of products liability.  There are numerous types of accidents that are considered to be products liability accidents, including injuries caused by defective machines or tools; dangerous medical devices and equipment; injuries caused by dangerous drugs or pharmaceuticals; asbestos related injuries; injuries from defective food and beverages; and injuries caused by dangerous household items.

There are three generally recognized ways in which a product can be defective:  defective design, defective manufacture, and defective warning.  Defective designs occur when the product is improperly designed.  Accordingly, in defective design cases all products of the same type have the same flaw which caused the injury.  A plaintiff’s claim in these cases is that the product was simply not designed in a sufficiently safe manner.  Defective manufacturing occurs when the particular product was faultily created.  The intended design of the product may be perfectly safe.  However, the particular product simply was not assembled correctly or put together in the correct manner, causing that particular product to be dangerous.  Finally, defective warnings occur when a product is not accompanied by a sufficient warning to caution users against hidden dangers, or when a product is improperly labeled or contains insufficient instructions.

There can be many potentially responsible parties for an injury under products liability law.  Any party who plays a role in the chain of custody from the manufacturing of a product to its sale might possibly be held liable.  This includes the original manufacturer of the product; any manufacturer who supplies component parts to the product; any wholesaler; and any seller or re-seller of the product.

There are several theories that can be advanced in a products liability case.  The most common are for negligence and breach of warranty.  In some cases, it may be possible to plead a strict liability theory.  Additionally, there are numerous laws which may apply and provide statutory causes of action. 

Most products liability cases require the involvement of experts.  In a legal sense, experts are individuals who a qualified by the knowledge, training, skill, education, and/or experience in a particular area.  For example, a doctor who renders opinions regarding the nature, extent, causation, and prognosis of a patient’s injuries is an expert.  In the products liability context, experts are employed by both plaintiffs and defendants alike to contend that a product was or was not defective.