Product manufacturers owe it to consumers to produce products that are safe to use. This means that they must take care when manufacturing items they will sell to users to make sure that they design the products to be safe, that they follow the proper manufacturing process, and that they include warnings and instructions with the product. If they make any mistakes in this process and their product injures you or a member of your family, you might be entitled to file an injury claim.
Rice, Murtha & Psoras ’s Maryland lawyer for injuries caused by a manufacturing defect might be able to help with your case. Our personal injury lawyer offers free consultations where we can sit down, examine how your injury occurred, and help you determine whether you have a case against the product manufacturer, seller, or distributer. For a free legal consultation on your case, call us today at (410) 694-7291.
Types of Manufacturing Defects and Product Injuries in Maryland
Product manufacturing defects can occur in any type of product on the market. Auto parts, pharmaceuticals, power tools, home appliances, electronics, and even children’s toys can have dangerous defects that make the product unsafe for consumers. Typically, the law allows injury victims to sue for the harm they suffered even if the manufacturer took extra efforts to try to keep their products safe because injuries like this are unacceptable. Manufacturing defects that can lead to an injury lawsuit typically fall into one of three categories, which might change what you need to prove in your injury case:
Design Defect Injuries
If you were injured because a product had a dangerous design, you might be entitled to file a lawsuit. Product manufacturers have to pay attention to how their products are designed and take into account how consumers are going to use the product. If they design a support to be too thin, a product could break; if they design an edge to be too sharp, users could be cut on it; and if they fail to put common-sense safety mechanisms into their products, users could get seriously hurt.
Proving that a design was defective usually means pointing to a problem that any product from the same manufacturer would have. For instance, an airbag housing that shatters into shrapnel when used could have the same design across all airbags in that product line, and any airbag would show this same dangerous design flaw. This means you can typically use any product from the same manufacturer and product line as evidence to show the jury the dangers of the design defect.
Manufacturing Defect Injuries
A manufacturing defect usually refers to a problem with a product that was not supposed to be there. Manufacturing defects usually come from a product where the design is not at issue, but the factory or manufacturer made a mistake that caused the product to become dangerous. This kind of mistake can come from a manufacturer substituting an inferior material, damaging the product during assembly, or missing a piece altogether.
If you were injured by a manufacturing defect, the same defect might have occurred in other items that came out of the same factory at the same time, but it is usually important to save the specific product that injured you. Your product might have been the only one with that defect, and it is important to use your defective unit as evidence of what the defect was and how it injured you.
Failure to Warn Injuries
This kind of defective product injury case could involve either of the other two types of defects. However, the issue with a failure to warn case is not that the defect occurred, but rather that the manufacturer did not warn you about it. A manufacturer’s instructions should help you use a product safely, and the instructions and packaging – or stickers on the device itself – should warn you of potential dangers. If they failed to let you know about a potentially dangerous issue with the design or did not warn you of injuries that could occur if there is a broken or missing piece, the manufacturer could be held responsible for your injuries.
There is typically no need to warn trained consumers, and there may be no duty to warn consumers if a trained intermediary takes on the responsibility of warning you, such as a doctor telling you about a drug’s side effects. Additionally, some products like knives and saws have obvious dangers that the manufacturer might not need to warn you about.
Suing for Manufacturing Defects in Maryland
Whichever type of defect caused your injuries, you might be entitled to file a products liability lawsuit for your injuries. These cases are usually filed against the manufacturer of the product, but they might try to deflect the blame to the seller or the distributor instead. Your lawyer can help ensure that the case is filed against the proper parties.
These claims usually work under one of two theories: negligence or strict liability. If you were injured because the manufacturer failed to use the proper care and skill in designing and assembling the product, you may be able to hold them responsible for any injuries that their negligence caused. In some cases, the manufacturer’s care and skill play no part in your case, and you can hold them strictly liable for selling you a defective product. Your lawyer can help you determine which type of case you have and how to progress with your claim.
Call Our Maryland Product Injury and Manufacturing Defect Lawyer
If you or a loved one was injured because of a defective product, contact our Maryland lawyer for injuries caused by a manufacturing defect. Rice, Murtha & Psoras represent personal injury victims in Maryland and their families in lawsuits against product manufacturers and other companies involved in the manufacturing process, and we work to hold them responsible for dangerous product defects and injuries. For a free legal consultation on your potential case, call us today at (410) 694-7291.