When Is a Product Manufacturer Liable for Injuries?

If you’ve been injured because of a dangerous or defective product, a product liability attorney in Laramie, Wyoming can help you get through these complicated personal injury claims and access the compensation you’re owed.

For a manufacturer to be held liable for your injuries, they must have made a defective product. There are three ways in which there can be a defect. The first is a design defect, the second a manufacturing defect, and the third a marketing defect. The first step in bringing your claim is understanding what type of defect you’re dealing with so that you can prepare the correct legal strategy for bringing a case on the right grounds.

A design defect argues that a product was dangerous or defective before it was even manufactured. In other words, even if it was manufactured perfectly and used exactly in line with its intended purpose, it was always unsafe. Within this larger grouping, there are two types of design defects. The first is an error in the design. In other words, someone simply made a mistake when they designed it, and there is really no defense against this. But another kind of design defect is the conscious design choice. In this type, you’re arguing that the manufacturer intended for the design to be the way it was and didn’t make a mistake; yet the product turned out to be unsafe anyway. These cases are harder to bring, and the question is whether and an alternative and safer design should have been used.

To test whether a design defect is to blame, the law asks whether the product was “…dangerous to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer…” This is a subjective question, to be sure, and sometimes a “risk-benefit balance” test is used instead. Both these questions are trying to drive at the part a consumer should play in keeping themselves safe. These tests basically ask whether a reasonable person who bought and used this item could possibly have foreseen the risks.

A good example here would be a dresser that must be affixed to the wall to be considered safe. If a child climbs a dresser, causing the dresser to fall over and crush them, the question becomes whether there was a mistake in the design that caused this to happen or whether it was deliberately designed to the weight and balance that it was. If it was deliberately designed to that weight and balance, then the manufacturer would need to include a warning that the dresser must be secured to a wall to overcome a claim for designed defect.

Manufacturing defects are a bit easier to deal with. When you have a manufacturing defect, there’s nothing wrong with the design, but something happened during the process of creating it where it was improperly built or the intended design was not followed. Manufacturing defects usually only affect a small number of products rather than an entire line of them.

In this case, you don’t have to prove that the manufacturer was actually negligent. You just have to prove that the product itself was defective. The important issue is the product itself rather than the manufacturer. There are not many defenses against a manufacturing defect claim. The only real defenses are that the defect did not cause injury at all or that the defect was caused by someone else. For example, if a manufacturer of an important piece of medical equipment includes specifications about how that medical equipment is to be stored, and a hospital did not store it that way so that the equipment was compromised and fails, then fault would lie with the hospital rather than with the manufacturer.

The final type of product liability claim is marketing defect. Here you are arguing that the product was not marketed clearly with proper warnings. If a manufacturer makes false claims about a product, includes improper instructions or improper warning labels, or fails to warn correctly with prominent and highly visible warnings, they can be held liable in many cases. Even if a user used the product in a way it was never designed for, it may still be possible to bring a marketing defect claim if there was no warning. 

Ultimately, the manufacturer is responsible for all foreseeable risks but not responsible for unforeseeable risks. For example, if a user buys a fixed blade for use in a home garage, it will come with basic warnings, and if these warnings are missing, such as a warning to use protective metal gloves while operating the blade, the manufacturer could be held liable if someone cuts themselves. But if someone were to remove the blade from its setting and attempt to use it to shave, the manufacturer would likely not be held liable if the user cuts themselves, because a reasonable person could not have foreseen this use of the product.

 

If you’re injured by a defective product, and the manufacturer is held liable, you should be able to hold them financially responsible for all your losses related to the incident. This would include covering all your medical bills, including emergency transportation, rehabilitation, medications, and any nursing care or ongoing, long-term medical care you may need. You can also recover damages for lost wages if you have been unable to work due to the accident and reimbursement for disability or disfigurement.

Wyoming also allows you to recover what are known as non-economic damages. These are sometimes called pain and suffering and are meant to compensate you for the emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and pain that you suffered as a result of your injuries.

The first thing to do is immediately stop using the product. While this might seem like this is an obvious thing to say, you should bear in mind that sometimes products can be harming you gradually rather than suddenly. If you’ve been using something, such as a medication especially, and you believe there’s any chance it could be harming you, stop using it.

Get medical attention as soon as you can. The sooner you can get help, the easier it will be to prove the link between the product use and your injuries.

You’ll need evidence to bring a claim, so if anyone was with you and saw you using the product when it hurt you, get their information. Take photographs if you can. If you have family or friends who can testify to your state before you began using the product and your state afterward, this could also be helpful.

Contacting a lawyer sooner rather than later is always wise. Wyoming gives you four years in most cases to bring a product liability suit. Though this may seem like a long time, the time goes quickly, especially if you’re dealing with injuries. Once you call lawyer, your lawyer will take over the case, leaving you to concentrate on healing.

Get help today from the Ochs Law Firm in Laramie, Wyoming. We also serve Casper, Jackson, Cheyenne, Cody, Gillette, and Idaho Falls.