When you are injured or harmed by a defective product, it is important to know what your options are. You have rights that need protection and could receive compensation for the damage the defective product causes.
Legal claims based on defective products are referred to as product liability claims and are based on the legal concept of negligence.
What does product liability mean?
Product liability means the liability of parties who are responsible for designing, manufacturing or distributing a defective product.
Some common types of product liability claims include:
- Design defect
- Manufacturing defect
- Warning defect
A design defect means the product is inherently dangerous due to the way it was designed. Product liability claims involving motor vehicles often involve design defects. Proving a design defect generally involves showing the product was in an unreasonably dangerous condition.
A manufacturing defect means that although the product was designed properly, something happened during the manufacturing process to make the product unsafe.
Manufacturing defects can be challenging to prove. You must show that the manufacturer was negligent and that this negligence caused your damage.
Warning defects mean that the product was inherently dangerous and the manufacturer had a legal duty to warn you of the danger but did not do so.
Product liability claims based on warning defects are often seen with prescription medications when a pharmaceutical company fails to include potential side effects or adverse reactions on the warning label of a medication.
However, warning defects can happen with any type of product and do not need to involve a lack of warning. The warning label could be placed in a poor location or in too small print.
Proving your damages
You must prove the amount of your damages no matter what type of defect you allege in your product liability claim. For example, if you allege you suffered $10,000 in damages, you must prove that figure.
Damages can be proved through evidence such as medical receipts, paystubs showing lost wages or documentation of other expenses.