When anyone buys a product, they naturally assume that the product is safe to use. Under US laws, persons who design, manufacture, and distribute any product are required to make sure that the products they release do not pose unreasonable risks of injury to consumers. However, there may be occasions when manufacturers, either due to negligence or carelessness, release products that are unsafe into the market.
When anyone buys a product, they naturally assume that the product is safe to use. Under US laws, persons who design, manufacture, and distribute any product are required to make sure that the products they release do not pose unreasonable risks of injury to consumers. However, there may be occasions when manufacturers, either due to negligence or carelessness, release products that are unsafe into the market.
Examples of faulty or dangerous products can include cars with manufacturing defects, chargers and music players that catch fire, or medications that cause adverse reactions. If you have been injured due to a defective product in New York, the law allows you to hold the manufacturer accountable for the damage that they caused.
However, getting the compensation to which you are entitled can be an uphill task for defective product injury because companies often will do all they can to shift the blame for the injury onto the victim. Having an experienced NYC product liability attorney on your side can help you build a strong case that gets you the damages you deserve.
Types of Defects in Products That May Result in Injuries
In order to know how to proceed in a faulty product injury case in New York, you need to find out to which category of defects your case belongs. Generally, defects in products may be of the following three types:
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects arise when there is a problem with the manner in which the product was produced. Although there may not be a problem with the design of the product, errors can be introduced during the processes used in manufacturing, rendering the final product dangerous for use.
This type of defect arises from several causes such as malfunction of machinery, or wrong operations by untrained employees or the use of cheap materials. Inadequate cleaning and a failure to correctly inspect the quality of products before their release to the market can also cause such defects. The following are a few examples of manufacturing defects:
- Vehicles with improper safety feature installations
- Furniture that has parts missing or wrongly fitted
- The contaminated batch of medications
- Degraded or contaminated food products
- Toys with broken pieces or missing parts
In cases when an entire batch of products has been erroneously manufactured, the defective products can endanger the lives of thousands of customers.
Design Defects
When there is a problem with the initial design of the product, it is known as a design defect. These defects do not depend on the manufacturing process; even if the production takes place as prescribed, the problem will continue to persist because the problem lies in the initial design itself. The following are a few examples of design defects:
- Bicycle seats that are not strong enough to support riders
- Lawnmowers in which there is gas leakage, putting them at risk of a fire hazard
- Cars with weak roofs that are more prone to cause death in case of a rollover accident
- Cribs with railings can be detached children, causing them to fall out
Before they begin manufacturing a product, companies must make sure that the design of their product is appropriate. Products that are not fit for their intended purpose are responsible for many injuries that could result in a product liability lawsuit.
Failure to Warn
This category refers to cases in which the product as such has no defect, but needs to be operated in a particular manner to avoid danger. Most manufacturers include detailed instructions and warnings to help consumers use the product as intended so that they avoid injury. A failure to provide such warnings or instructions that result in an injury can be the basis for a defective product lawsuit in New York City.
Examples of injuries that arise due to a failure to warn include:
- Side effects experienced by patients who take a drug for which the drugmaker has not listed possible side effects
- Injuries sustained by a person who uses a power tool that has been sold without proper instructions for its use
- Choking in children who were allowed to play with a particular toy because the manufacturer did not include a choke hazard warning or an age restriction on the package or in the instructions that came with the toy
What Type of a Defective Product Claim Can You File in New York?
Under New York law, you may file a defective product claim under one of the following three headings.
- Negligence: Under this category, one can file claims for injuries that were caused because the manufacturer did not exercise the necessary level of care to make sure the product was safe. Problems with product design, lack of adequate testing, and failure to provide instructions and warnings are some of the situations in which the defendant can be charged with negligence.
- Strict Liability: If the plaintiff can prove that the risk of a product outweighs its value or if they can provide evidence that the product was unsuitable for use as intended, they can recover damages under the theory of strict liability. In this case, there is no requirement of proving that the defendant was aware of defects in their product.
- Breach of Warranty: If a product fails to fulfill an explicitly stated or even an implied claim, the manufacturer can be held liable for breach of warranty.
Examples of Defective Products Claims Handled by Product Liability Attorneys in NYC
Product liability lawyers in New York deal with cases in which an individual has suffered injuries due to defective products. The most common examples of claims they handle include the following:
- Defective medical equipment and devices
- Dangerous drugs including prescription medication as well as over-the-counter drugs
- Defective food products
- Defective electrical equipment
- Defective industrial equipment
- Defective auto parts such as airbags, tires, and other automobile components
- Defective children’s car seats, walkers, and cribs
- Home devices with fire hazard
- Defective children’s toys and play equipment
- Defective machinery and equipment on construction sites
What Are the Steps Involved in Proving That a Product Was Defective?
When you file a New York defective product liability claim, it is necessary to provide evidence and demonstrate that there was negligence by the manufacturer in designing, manufacturing or marketing the product. To be able to build an effective case, you need to show that:
- The product was defective, or faulty, or dangerous when used
- Your injury was a direct result of using the product in the manner as instructed by the manufacturer
- The injury you sustained caused you to suffer physical, emotional, or financial damage
- There were no implicit warnings accompanying the product that could have warned you about a possible injury
Collecting evidence to prove all these aspects can be difficult for an average citizen who is already trying to recover from the injuries caused by the defective product. However, for an expert defective product attorney in New York, it is quite easy to investigate the accident, collect evidence, preserve it, and work with medical, design, production, and financial experts to determine the type of product liability issue involved in your case.
What Must You Do if You’ve Been Injured by a Defective Product?
If you have suffered an injury due to a defective or dangerous product, first get medical attention and recover from your injury. Wherever possible, preserve the defective product so that it can serve as evidence in your case and help in the process of identifying who was at fault for the injury.
Keep relevant documents such as the product purchase bill, contracts or warranties, and records of your injury or illness caused by the product along with medical reports of the treatment you had to undergo to recover your health.
Get Legal Representation for Your Defective Product Injury in New York City
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury caused by the use of a defective product, it is important you seek legal help to file a product liability claim. Under New York’s statute of limitations for product liability, you must file a complaint within three years of suffering harm due to a faulty product.
While three years sounds like a lot of time, it is important to remember that with time, our memory of an incident tends to fade, and gathering evidence after a huge time gap can also prove to be quite difficult. So, it is crucial that you take immediate action to file a product liability claim.
At Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP, our product liability lawyers have decades of experience in handling defective product cases for several clients in NYC. Even in complex cases, or cases that involve huge corporations with immense resources at their disposal, our attorneys have succeeded in winning clients the maximum compensation to which they are entitled under the law.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury or lost a dear one in an accident caused by a defective product, call Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP today at 212-344-1000 or contact us online for a free and confidential consultation.
