Defective Products that Can Cause Serious Injuries – Part I

Each day we interact with consumer products without thinking about it. After all, it would make for an extremely stressful life if we worried about whether our brakes will work each time we approach a stop sign. Unfortunately, defective brakes¹ cause injuries in the United States, and there are scores of other products that have the potential to cause harm if they are defectively designed, manufactured, or marketed.

Here are a few categories of products that can cause serious injuries when they are defective.

Car or Vehicle Parts – There are a lot of parts that make up a vehicle. Many of them can cause serious injuries or accidents if defective. Some of these parts include airbags that fail deploy, seatbelts that don’t work properly, brake pedals and acceleration pedals that fail to respond properly when they are pressed. Under the hood, various parts of the engine can cause injuries if defective, including coolant caps and various belts. The tires and bolts holding them onto a vehicle can also fail and cause serious injury.

Medications – Prescription and over-the-counter medications can be defective or improperly packaged. This includes medications with serious side effects that are not properly disclosed to patients who take them. If a manufacturer does not properly label medications or the packaging is improperly secured, tampering can occur or children may be able to get into medication.

Medical Devices – A wide range of devices – from home-care tools such as blood sugar monitors and syringes to devices used in hospitals and during surgery – can be defective. Anything used by a patient to monitor and treat an illness needs to function properly, or it puts the patient at risk. During surgery and treatment, devices such as stents and surgical tools are used to ensure the safety and health of a patient. If any one of these items has a defect, the consequences can be fatal.

Children’s Toys – There are quite a few ways that children’s toys can be defective, from the packaging to the product itself. The packaging needs to indicate the intended age range of a toy and should be appropriately labeled to ensure small children do not receive toys with choking hazards. Toys must be free of toxic chemicals and materials, which can be dangerous for children, especially young ones who may put toys in their mouths.

Call a St. Louis Product Liability Attorney Today to Discuss Your Case

If you have been hurt by a product that you believe may have been defective, you should speak to an attorney immediately. For a free consultation with one of our lawyers, call Page Law today at 314-322-8515 or contact us online.

1 https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/10/12/toyota-recalls-340000-prius-hybrid-cars-faulty-brakes/91934138/