Over the last 100 years or so, there has been an explosion of products manufactured for consumer use. Items like automobiles, hairdryers or even child cribs are everyday staples for people in Pittsburgh and throughout the country. While the majority of the result of the influx of these items on the consumer market has been positive, not everyone has had positive experiences using these products. There are those who have even suffered injury from common consumer products.
An injury resulting from a product could be considered as a result of a marking defect related to insufficient warning. What this means, essentially, is that the consumer was not properly warned about the potential misuse of a product that could result in injury or even death. In addition, the manufacturer of a product is required, by law, to give instruction or warn about the potential misuse of the product. Failure to do so could put the manufacturer at risk for a products liability claim.
Such a claim seeks to recover financially for the negative effects a product has had on a person. Usually this means collecting for bodily harm or medical expenses related to that injury. However, an injury could also render pain and suffering, lost wages or even a permanent injury that will alter the injured person’s life forever. There are ways for an injured person to collect for these types of damages also.
Just because a product may have some seemingly obvious dangers doesn’t mean that the manufacturer does not have a responsibility to warn the consumer of those potential dangers. If it was not explicitly stated in the instruction, packaging or other means, the consumer could have a claim if injured. Failure to warn is considered a marketing defect in the scope of products liability claims. Claiming injury is one step toward preventing that injury from occurring again in the future.
Source: FindLaw, “Defects in Warnings,” Accessed June 7, 2016