Pennsylvania Defective Product Lawyer
Do you need to speak to a lawyer about an injury you or someone you love sustained due to a defective product? Call our experienced attorneys at Edelstein Martin & Nelson for a free consultation. We can help you figure out how much you may be able to recover in compensation.
Products are purchased every hour of the day in Pennsylvania. In fact, there are many products that you have likely purchased just this week alone. When you make the purchase of a product, you expect that it will work properly and won’t cause you harm in any way. However, many major products experience defects each year, causing serious injuries and even death to consumers. If you have been injured due to a defective product, it is crucial that you seek immediate legal help for your damages.
What Is a Product Liability Claim?
When a defective product has caused your injuries, you have the right and option to bring a product liability claim. When a product is defective and it leads to injuries, this falls under what is known as product liability law. This type of law was introduced due to the fact that many hospital visits stem from defective products each year. In fact, estimates show that millions of people have been hospitalized due to defective consumer products.
If you decide to move forward with a product liability claim with the help of a product liability lawyer, you will be able to gain economic and non-economic losses. Compensation is incredibly vital when it comes to getting back on your feet after an injury involving a defective product. Our Pennsylvania defective product lawyers at Edelstein Martin & Nelson are here for you during these difficult times.
Who is Responsible for an Unsafe Product?
When an item is faulty or dangerous and it leads to injuries, you will likely have a successful personal injury claim. A person injured in a defective product claim has the right to hold one or more parties liable for their injuries and other damages in civil court. Proving that a party is liable for your injuries is not always easy to do, however. There are several parties who could be at fault in one of these claims, such as the following:
- The product manufacturer
- The designer of the product
- The manufacturer who helped to create parts of the product
- The party responsible for assembling the product
- The wholesaler
- The retail store that sold the product
In some cases, multiple parties could be responsible for harm caused by a defective product. Injured consumers have many rights under Pennsylvania law. If you have been hurt in a product liability case, you should be able to recover damages from one or more parties.
Understanding the Pennsylvania Fair Share Act
An act known formally as the ‘Pennsylvania Fair Share Act‘ was signed into law in 2011 for those bringing defective product claims. This act made it so that each defendant in a product liability claim is liable for only their amount of liability. However, even though this act exists, there are still circumstances where the defendant will still be responsible to pay the entire amount that is owed to you. These include some of the following circumstances:
- When there was intentional misrepresentation of the product
- A product that was intentionally hazardous in nature
- Alcohol being served to an individual who was already intoxicated
Products That Are Commonly Part of Product Liability Claims
Some products are more likely to cause a product liability claim due to defective design, manufacturing issues, and more. These include the following:
Auto Parts: Any vehicle can become part of a product liability claim. There are many common parts that are likely to become defective when being designed or manufactured – such as engines, brakes, and even airbags. When a vehicle part is defective, it can cause an accident that leads to devastating injuries.
Medical Products: We always expect that a medical product will ensure that our health and well-being is priority. However, sometimes there are defects that even cause medical products to bring us harm. Some of the most likely medical products to have a defect include hip replacements, walkers, pacemakers, and more.
Home Improvement Tools: If a user is operating a home improvement tool in a safe manner and the way that it was anticipated, it should always operate safely. However, defects in home improvement tools happen every year, sometimes leading to catastrophic accidents. Some of these tools include saws, power drills, and more.
Toys: Though we work diligently to ensure that our children are always kept safe from harm, accidents involving defective toys still occur and cause harm. Toys are recalled each year due to many reasons.
Medications: Many medications have been recalled in the past due to causing harm to a user. If there are defects in a medication that caused you to suffer harm, drug companies are supposed to warn consumers of what to expect.
How to Prove Fault in a Product Liability Claim
Proving fault is one of the most difficult things that you will face in your product liability claim. Luckily, with the help of a Pennsylvania product liability lawyer, you will be able to bring a successful claim against one or more parties when a manufacturing defect is present. There are four elements that you have to show were present at the time of your accident involving a defective product:
- The product was defective
- The defective product caused your injuries
- You were using the product as intended when your accident happened
- You sustained injuries or other losses due to the accident
It can be troublesome and confusing to deal with the all of the paperwork stemming from the injuries caused by a defective product. If you have been hurt in one of these accidents, you should speak with a Pennsylvania product liability lawyer as soon as possible. Our Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys at Edelstein Martin & Nelson are here to help you when it comes to your claim.
Failure to Warn in Product Liability Cases
In some product liability claims, a concept known as ‘failure to warn’ is present. When failure to warn is present, it means that a manufacturer knew that there was a safe way to use a product but failed to disclose any risks or instructions on the product to the consumer. If you have been injured due to a defective product and you believe that you were not warned about dangers or risks associated with the product, you could have a claim due to this basis.
Sometimes, however, manufacturers try to get around this by claiming that they did not know about a risk associated with their product. This does not automatically get them off the hook when it comes to liability. If you can show that a manufacturer reasonably should have known about the risks associated with a product, you can still be successful in bringing a personal injury claim. Manufacturers are supposed to act in a reasonable manner so that a defective product is not put out to consumers.
Filing Deadlines for Product Liability Claims in Pennsylvania
Many individuals who want to bring a Pennsylvania product liability claim wonder when they are supposed to file their claim. Because there is a statute of limitations in Pennsylvania, time is of the essence when it comes to bringing your personal injury claim. Pennsylvania carries a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury claims, including those involving a defective product. This means that you have two years from the date of your injury to bring a claim before you are barred from doing so. Once the statute of limitations expires, you may not recover compensation.
Even though many injuries caused by defective products are present from the get-go or easy to identify, some injuries take longer to show up. A degenerative disease or an illness can take a long time to show up, which means that the clock will not start ticking right away. In these cases, the statute of limitations does not begin until you have been diagnosed with a medical issue related to the defect.
Strict Liability for Injuries from Defective Products
Pennsylvania has strict liability when it comes to product liability claims. What does this mean? Strict liability refers to finding a party liable for the damages caused by a product defect even when negligence was not present. This means that any party could still be found liable for the damages you have received from a defective product such as manufacturers, retailers, and others throughout the chain. These claims can become incredibly complex, which is why you should seek the immediate help of a Pennsylvania product liability lawyer at Edelstein Martin & Nelson.
Damages That You Can Receive in Your Product Liability Claim
If you have been hurt due to a dangerous product, you can bring a successful claim with the help of a product liability lawyer. There are economic and non-economic damages that you may be able to receive in your claim. These include compensation for the following:
Medical Expenses: If you have sustained any medical treatment associated with the injuries caused by your accident, you may be able to receive damages for these medical bills. These include hospitalizations, surgeries you have endured, rehabilitative care, medication expenses, and more.
Lost Wages: Many people who have been hurt due to a defective product will not be able to return to work for some time, or ever, depending on how severe their injuries are. If you missed work or will miss work in the future due to your injuries, you will be able to receive lost wages as part of your damages.
Disability Costs: Many injuries are so severe that they could cause your lifestyle to be altered in a variety of ways. If there have been adjustments made to your daily routines and abilities due to your injuries, you may be able to receive damages for disability costs.
Pain and Suffering: You may be able to receive damages for pain and suffering if your injuries were incredibly severe. These include damages for mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and more. It is not always easy to determine how much you will receive for pain and suffering damages. The size of this award can vary greatly from case to case, but your attorney will be able to help you determine how much you could receive.
Loss of Consortium: Sometimes, the injuries that you suffer in a product liability claim can affect the relationship that you have with your spouse. Because of this, you may be able to receive compensation for loss of consortium. If you are not able to contribute emotional support or affection to your partner due to the harm you have suffered, you may be eligible for these damages.
Punitive Damages: It is not unheard of for a product liability claim to include punitive damages. These damages are supposed to make a plaintiff feel ‘whole’ again after they have sustained injuries. These damages also punish a defendant for their reckless and outright negligent behavior, keeping them from engaging in these acts in the future when it comes to their product.
Wrongful Death Claims Involving Defective Products
In some of the most catastrophic cases, a defective product could lead to a fatality. Family members who have lost a loved one due to a product defect and outright reckless behavior are eligible to bring what is known as a wrongful death claim. If you can show that a manufacturer or some other party is responsible for the death of your loved one, you can bring one of these claims to gain compensation for a wide array of losses. These include costs such as medical expenses that your loved one incurred before their passing. This may also include lost wages, funeral costs, burial expenses, and more. Because these claims are known for being complex and sometimes difficult to prove, you should always have the assistance of a Pennsylvania wrongful death attorney on your side who has handled product liability claims in the past.
Speaking with a Pennsylvania Defective Products Lawyer
Nobody ever expects to become injured due to a defective product. If you have been injured in an accident involving a product, and know that another party is to blame for your accident, you have options moving forward. The litigation process can be daunting and challenging to face on your own, especially knowing that there are many Pennsylvania laws that apply to these cases that you may not be familiar with.
If you have been hurt in a product liability-related accident, you have options and should seek immediate help from an attorney. Please contact our Pennsylvania defective products lawyers at Edelstein Martin & Nelson at (888) 208-1810 to get started on your claim.