PRODUCT LIABILITY LAWYER

It is the responsibility of a company to protect consumers from harm when using its products or drugs. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. And when you are injured due to the use of a defective product, several parties can be held accountable for your injury. From the company that created the product, to the manufacturer to even the store that carries the device, all can be held responsible for your injuries.

At Caputo & Mariotti, our product liability lawyer has been handling product liability claims throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania for over 55 years. If you were injured by a defective product or drug, you may receive compensation for your injuries. We urge you to contact our personal injury lawyers today for a free consultation to find out what you may be entitled to.

 

What is Product Liability?

Product liability tort allows consumers to hold manufacturers and sellers liable for a defective or dangerous product that caused an injury. According to Pennsylvania law, a manufacturer or seller can be held responsible for your injuries under two different categories:

Manufacturer Defects

If an error during the manufacturer phase occurred, whether intentional or not, the consumer may be able to sue if an injury occurs. For example, you recently bought a hair dryer. While allowing the hair dryer to heat up before using it, the product gets extremely hot due to a manufacturing defect that should have been caught prior to sending the product to market. As your arm brushes against the hair dryer, you receive a third-degree burn.

In this situation, the manufacturer should have been aware of how hot the product could get and made measures to either warn the consumer or made changes to the product to prevent it from getting hot.

Design Defects

A design defect refers to when there is a flaw in the product design, causing the product to become dangerous and hazardous to any consumer who uses the product. To determine whether your injury was caused by a dangerous or defective product design, these three questions need to be answered:

• Was the design unreasonably dangerous prior to production?
• Should the manufacturer have anticipated the potential user being harmed by the design of the product?
• Could the manufacturer have used a different design without the flaw that wouldn’t have altered the purpose of the product?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, our product liability attorneys are ready to hear your claim.

 

Proving Negligence in Product Liability Claims

For cases of negligence, you will need to prove that the carelessness of either the manufacturer or designer was the cause of your injury. You will need to show that they were aware or should have known the product was not safe yet chose to put it on the market.

For example, for years studies have shown a link between the human carcinogen NDMA in the over-the-counter heartburn medication Zantac and cancer. Yet, Zantac continued producing the drug without warning the public. This is a case of negligence.

 

Strict Liability Law

According to Pennsylvania law, product liability cases fall under the legal theory of strict liability. In these cases, the claimant will only need to prove that a defect in the product exists and caused their injury as a result, no matter what the claimant was doing at the time of the injury.

It’s important to note that in order for strict liability to apply to your claim, it must have been purchased in the chain of distribution, and not bought second-hand.

 

Who Can Be Held Liable for Your Injury?

For defective product claims, there can be more than one party liable for your injuries. In fact, any party involved in the chain of distribution from the accountable, such as:

• The manufacturer: Depending on the product, the claimant could sue both the manufacturer of the defective part in addition to the manufacturer who created the entire product.
• The retailer: Even though it had no involvement in the manufacturing process, the retailer had made claims that the product is suitable for purchase.
• The wholesaler: As the “middleman” between the manufacturer and the retailer, the wholesale could be held responsible for claiming the product is safe for the consumer.

If your claim is found in your favor, you could receive not only economic and noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, medical costs, and emotional anguish, but punitive damages may be awarded as a punishment to the parties involved.