Under Pennsylvania and federal laws, Mercer County residents, as consumers, are protected from consumer products that are a threat to their safety and well being. A lot of people do not think much about it when they get a recall notice for a defective airbag in their motor vehicle or a letter from a small appliance company stating that a particular model is too dangerous for use and to contact them for a replacement appliance. These recalls typically go out because government product inspectors have discovered a dangerous product or because multiple people have reported injuries or death due to the dangerous product.
As consumers, you should not have to suffer injuries before a dangerous product is taken out of the marketplace, but as our Mercer County product liability attorneys know, this is unfortunately how it sometimes happens. If you have suffered injuries due to a dangerous product, you deserve to be compensated for your injuries and damages.
Plaintiff’s claim
In product liability cases, plaintiffs claim that they have suffered injuries due to a dangerous product. Typically their claims will be set forth in the following manner:
- Show that the product was defective – Plaintiffs will put forth evidence that the product was in fact defective. They may do this by showing that the product, when used as intended, was dangerous.
- Prove injuries – They will show evidence of their injuries such as photographs, medical bills, or medical records related to the claimed injuries.
- Proximate cause – Plaintiffs will then show that the injuries that he or she sustained were a direct result of the product’s defect.
This sounds easy enough, but the defense will, of course, have a defense or defenses lined up to prove that the product was not actually defective or that the plaintiff did bear some responsibility for his or her injuries.
Common defense arguments
Some of the most common defense arguments include the following:
- The product was not defective; the problem was that the plaintiff did not use the product as intended or misused the product and that was the ultimate cause of the injuries.
- The product contained adequate warnings and instructions so that the plaintiff should have been aware of any danger and how to properly use it.
- That the plaintiff was aware of the product’s potential danger, yet he or she used it anyway.
- The product was modified or changed after it left the seller’s hands making it unsafe.
- There was no reasonably safe alternative design.
These are common defenses, but that does not mean they will be successful when raised. Product liability cases are tough cases, but with an experienced attorney, they can be a lot easier to prove.
