Will Your Defective Product Lawsuit Protect Other Consumers?

After spending your hard-earned money on something, you expect it to work as promised. But the reality is that some items don’t work as expected. Unfortunately, about 30 million people are injured every year by defective products, with more than 20,000 fatalities. Maybe you were injured but worry about filing a defective product lawsuit. Keep this in mind – you can receive compensation for your injuries and might protect other consumers from the same fate.

How a Product Can Be Defective

There are several basic ways that products can rise to the level of defective product:

• Design defects.
• Manufacturing defects.
• Marketing defects, including instruction manuals, disclaimers, and warning labels.

As for who’s at fault, it depends on the type of defect. Some products might be defective in multiple ways.

Who’s to Blame and Why?

Designers, manufacturers, retailers, and marketers could be held liable for injuries because:

• A product is poorly manufactured.
• The item was deceptively marketed.
• Labeling on the product was incorrect.
• Consumers were provided with inadequate or incorrect user manuals.
• Products failed to contain accurate disclaimers and disclosures that could have prevented consumer injuries.

Your defective product lawsuit could provide much-needed compensation for your injuries – and more.

Consumer Protection Through Defective Product Lawsuits

Your claim could alert everyone responsible that the product is not safe for consumer use. Here are some of the things that could happen as a result of your lawsuit:

• Products may be redesigned with improved or additional safety features.
• Mistakes made during manufacturing could be corrected for future product lines.
• Manufacturers could also address inadequate employee training that might have contributed to the product’s qualities.
• Warning labels and disclaimers could be updated to provide accurate information to consumers.
• Marketing materials could accurately depict the product’s use and limitations.
• Retailers and wholesalers could drop products and product lines that appear to be defective or deceptively marketed.

You might have even heard of some well-known defective products cases.

Some Major Lawsuits Made News Over the Past Few Decades

One landmark case, United States (Department of Justice) vs. Philip Morris Tobacco, et al., forced the Philip Morris Tobacco Company to improve warnings and disclosures to consumers.

Several manufacturers were sued over SUV design defects that made the vehicles unstable. Many people were hurt when SUVs rolled over because of that defect. Product liability lawsuits forced the manufacturers to correct the design to promote vehicle stability for consumers.

Finally, several toy sellers were sued because lead-based paint was used on their products. Although the manufacturing plants were located in China, US-based companies were still responsible for the safety of their products. Mattel, Inc. and Fisher-Price paid around $50 million in damages in response to consumer lawsuits. The companies also set up groups to improve the monitoring and testing of products.

Call to Discuss Your Potential Defective Product Lawsuit

Your reason for filing this type of lawsuit could be two-fold.  First, you might receive compensation for your injuries. And secondly, your lawsuit might protect consumers from future injuries.

If you have been hurt because of someone else’s negligence, you need help from top-rated, hard-working representation. At Shapiro|Delgado, our attorneys put their injury law experience to work for you. And we handle cases on a contingency basis, which means we don’t get paid unless you do.

We represent clients throughout Florida, including Sarasota, Bradenton, Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Pinellas County, and surrounding communities.

To set up a free personal consultation, call 941-954-4000 or use our convenient online contact form.

Your family counts on you.
You can count on us.