Injuries from defective products can cause serious injuries. Pharmaceutical companies, auto manufacturers, power tool manufacturers, electronics companies, and even toy companies have a responsibility to ensure that their products are safe for consumers. When these companies fail to keep their products safe, injured consumers might be able to sue them for their negligence in allowing mistakes to slip through, and the law often holds them strictly liable for those mistakes.
For help suing a manufacturer for a product injury in the Baltimore area, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras. Our Baltimore lawyer for injuries caused by a manufacturing defect represent injury victims in lawsuits against manufacturers, distributors, and sellers who allow defective product injuries to harm consumers. For a free legal consultation on your case, call our law offices today at (410) 694-7291.
Manufacturing Defects and Product Injuries in Baltimore
The term “defect” generally refers to problems with a product or a device that are discovered after it leaves the factory. the phrase “manufacturing defect” usually refers specifically to problems with a product caused by a deviation from the proper design. This generally includes defects caused by a manufacturer that substitutes in a different, inferior material, or it can refer to defects that stem from a missing or broken piece in the final product.
Manufacturing defects, as a specific term, can be contrasted with design defects. These defects occur when the product follows the intended design plans, but that design has some inherent, unreasonable danger. This often happens in cases where products overheat or catch fire because of a fault in the design or where products are dangerously sharp or too weak to safely withstand wear and tear.
The last type of defect that often leads to injury cases is not precisely a defect with the product but rather the materials that come along with the product. If a product has an inherent danger in the way that it works, manufacturers are required to place warnings on the packaging or on the product itself, and they are required to provide instructions. If you go through your kitchen, you will probably be able to find a dozen warning stickers that say that products can become hot or that you should not place utensils inside when the product is turned on.
Failure to warn claims often focus on the lack of warnings with these products, and many claims for design or manufacturing defects are brought as failure to warn claims.
Suing for Product Injury Claims in Baltimore for Manufacturing Defects
When you file a lawsuit for injuries from a defective product, you might be able to make your claim in one of two ways.
The first way that these claims work is to sue the manufacturer for their negligence in making the product. In a case like this, your lawyer will make the claim that the manufacturer failed to use the proper care or skill necessary in designing their product and that, because of those errors, you were injured. In these cases, you must prove that the design or the manufacturing defect was unreasonably dangerous and that it should not have been let off the manufacturing floor that way.
In some cases, you might be able to make a claim based on “strict liability” instead. In this kind of case, it makes no difference whether the defendant manufacturer was negligent or whether they worked as hard as they could to prevent injuries – the only thing that matters is that you were hurt by a product they made. Your lawyer can help you determine which type of case to file and how to proceed with your claim.
Damages for Defective Product Injury Lawsuits in Baltimore
In a defective product injury case, the victim is usually entitled to financial compensation for the harms they suffered. This often includes damages for any property damage the defective product caused, but the more important parts of the case usually involve damages for injuries.
When you are injured, you will usually face economic damages such as the cost of medical treatment, wages you lost while you were unable to work because of the injury, and the ongoing cost of rehabilitation, physical therapy, or treatment for permanent disabilities. These damages can be proven by producing medical bills and other evidence of how much these economic harms were worth. Aside from the economic damages, you will usually also face substantial pain and suffering from the injury. These noneconomic damages might not have any bills or financial statements that can show much they are worth, but you can still seek compensation for the physical pain, mental suffering, and emotional distress of the injury as well as any lost enjoyment of life or activities you used to be involved in.
Injury cases for manufacturing defects and other product defects can be filed against any manufacturer, including auto part manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and toymakers. Many of these companies have public reputations they want to protect, and they will usually not want word of their product defects getting out to the public. To prevent cases from ending up in the news or continuing to a jury verdict, these companies will often have strong legal teams, and they will offer low-dollar settlements to stop cases early. It is vital to have a lawyer review any settlement offers to see if the compensation is enough and to pursue your case further if you are entitled to additional compensation.
Call Our Baltimore Manufacturing Defect and Products Liability Lawyer
For a free consultation on a product injury case, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras today. Our Baltimore lawyer for injuries caused by a manufacturing defect helps victims of dangerous product injuries seek compensation from the product manufacturers that injured them. For a free legal consultation on your case, call our lawyers today at (410) 694-7291 to set up a free case consultation.