Products for sale must be safe for their anticipated uses. When they malfunction and cause an injury, the manufacturers might have to pay compensation.
Product liability law is complex, and securing appropriate compensation from a manufacturer requires legal knowledge and skill. Discuss your situation with an experienced Tolleson defective products lawyer as soon after the incident as possible.
Any Malfunctioning Product Could Lead to a Lawsuit
Product liability law applies to almost anything sold in the United States. When a product is not safe for use as directed, or as a manufacturer might reasonably anticipate someone would use it, the manufacturer is strictly liable for any losses or injury the product causes.
Almost any product that does not function safely when used properly could be the subject of a lawsuit against the manufacturer. Some examples of products that have injured or endangered people recently include the following:
- C-PAP machines
- Baby furniture
- Mini pressure cookers
- Automobile airbags
- Roundup pesticide
- Baby formula
- E-cigarettes
- Talcum powder
The federal Consumer Products Safety Commission can issue warnings or recall products when it receives reports of unacceptable risk of injury, and these actions can be evidence in a lawsuit against the manufacturer.
When many people are affected by a specific defective product, they might participate in a class action lawsuit or a mass tort case. These types of lawsuits are efficient ways of handling multiple claims against the same manufacturer. However, when a product injures an individual and there are few reports of other similar malfunctions or injuries, a Tolleson attorney could file an individual product liability lawsuit.
Understand the Applicable Time Limits
The law requires anyone seeking compensation for injuries to file a lawsuit within two years of the accident date. When the cause of the injury was the use of or exposure to a dangerous product, such as a lawsuit seeking compensation for illnesses or conditions related to pesticide exposure or using a particular hand lotion, the date of the last exposure is the date the two-year clock starts running.
However, some products have a long life, and the law protects manufacturers from lawsuits concerning products that they sold in the distant past. Arizona Revised Statutes §12-551 says a consumer cannot bring a lawsuit for injuries caused by a product that left the manufacturer’s control more than 12 years ago, regardless of how recently the accident happened.
Some who sustains injuries in an accident or receives a diagnosis of a condition or illness that might be related to exposure to a dangerous product should consult a Tolleson attorney from our firm as quickly as possible. Our legal professionals can investigate the situation and determine whether a claim against the manufacturer is viable.
Compensation in Product Liability Cases
When someone proves a manufacturer is responsible for their injury or health condition, the manufacturer is liable to pay compensation. In the legal context, compensation is usually called damages.
An injured person’s claim would include a demand for economic damages. These are the costs the injured person incurred or will incur due to the harm the defective product caused. Economic damages include lost income, medical costs, property damage, and incidental expenses. An injured person can prove their economic damages by producing documentation like receipts, invoices, tax returns, and similar evidence.
Non-economic damages include money a manufacturer pays an injured or ill person for the pain, inconvenience, humiliation, and emotional trauma they experience. Non-economic damages could also compensate for scarring and disfigurement, lost enjoyment of life, temporary or permanent disability, and similar issues. A Tolleson attorney could work with an injured person, their family, and other associates to document the changes in their quality of life since the encounter with the defective product.
Consult a Tolleson Attorney About Defective Product Injuries
Manufacturers are liable when the products they profit from cause harm. If you can prove the product was defective or the manufacturer negligent, you could claim financial damages.
When you believe a defective product caused an illness or injury, work with a Tolleson defective products lawyer from the Phillips Law Group. Get started today.
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