Florida Product Liability Cases

We all use consumer products on a daily basis, whether in working, traveling, cooking, or relaxing. While most of the time, these products work exactly as anticipated, it is also not uncommon for defective consumer products to malfunction and cause serious injuries. Fortunately, under Florida law, those who are injured by consumer products can recover compensation if they can prove that the product in question suffered from a defect. There are a few different ways to prove this, so if you or a loved one were recently injured by a consumer product, it is important to speak with an experienced Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney who can explain these legal options.

Design Defects

There are three types of defects from which a product can suffer that will entitle an injured party to compensation. The first of these kinds of defects is referred to as a design defect and involves situations in which a product, even when made to design specifications, is somehow dangerous to users. In fact, the design itself can be said to be what made the product unreasonably dangerous in the first place. In order to establish that a product was defectively designed, plaintiffs must be able to prove that the product in question did not work as a reasonable consumer would expect. In many design defect cases, problems show up across the product line, which means that more people could potentially be injured by the product, but also that injured parties may have stronger evidence that something was inherently wrong with the design itself.

Manufacturing Defect

Just because there is nothing wrong with a product’s design, does not mean that an item is not defective, as consumer products can also suffer from defects that occur due to the particular way that they were manufactured. Essentially, if a product was not made according to the design and as a result, caused injuries, victims could still be eligible to recover damages from the manufacturer. This often occurs during the production of medications, whose designs are safe and effective, but which become contaminated during the manufacturing process, resulting in a dangerous product. Other manufacturing defects are often caused by the use of one or more faulty parts during construction, or improper assembly.

Marketing Defects

Many products must be used in a certain way to be safe for consumers, so if a product does not come with adequate safety instructions or warnings, it can be dangerous for users. Many small toys or toys with small component parts, for example, are not appropriate for young children who could easily swallow the pieces. For this reason, manufacturers must place warnings on these types of products. Those that fail to do so can be held liable for producing an unreasonably dangerous product, but only if the injured party can prove that:

The product could cause foreseeable harm;
These dangers could have been reduced or eliminated by providing instructions or warnings; and
The failure to include proper warnings made the product unreasonably dangerous.

Successful plaintiffs who can fulfill the requirements of a product liability claim could be eligible to recover damages compensating them for medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering.