Articles Posted in Defective Products

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Reading about a dangerous product recall in Encinitas that has resulted in hundreds or thousands of injuries can be scary, and you might be unsure about your rights as a consumer when it comes to defective products and product liability lawsuits. For example, you might be wondering about your eligibility to file a lawsuit, and if you are eligible, who can be held liable for your injuries. Our experienced Encinitas product defect lawyers want to provide you with more information.

Injury Must Result from a Defective Product to Have a Claim

Owning a product that has been subject to a recall is not enough to file a claim. In order to be eligible for compensation, you must have been injured by the defective product.

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Anyone in Valley Center should feel confident making a consumer product purchase or picking up a prescription medication at the pharmacy without having to worry that the product has a serious defect and will cause severe or fatal injuries. However, defective products routinely cause consumer injuries in Southern California, and it can be difficult to know if you are buying a dangerous product or if you already own one unless a safety recall occurs or a serious injury results from use of the product. Our dedicated Valley Center personal injury lawyers want to tell you about common types of product defect claims across California. 

Products Commonly Subject to Safety Recalls

Nearly any type of product can have a defect and can be dangerous to consumers, but some types of products tend to be subject to safety recalls and to have particularly serious defects more often than others. Some examples of products commonly subject to safety recalls affecting consumers in Southern California:

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When products are recalled over safety concerns, consumers should pay close attention to the recall notices, but they should not panic. In many situations, products are recalled for relatively minor issues that are not likely to cause injury. However, in some cases, products may be recalled due to serious safety issues that could lead to debilitating or fatal injuries. If you own a product that is recalled due to a safety defect, should you file a claim? The answer to that question depends upon a variety of factors, and you should discuss the specific facts of your case with an Encinitas product liability lawyer. 

In the meantime, we want to provide you with more information that can help you to determine if it makes sense to get in touch with an attorney about filing a product defect claim.

You Must Have Suffered an Injury

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sharon-mccutcheon-5BRIjMTKFkU-unsplash-copy-300x200We often read information about auto product recalls in Escondido that could result in serious injuries in a car accident, or information about child car seat safety. Yet it is not especially common to hear about a car that has been recalled for a safety defect related to child car seats. According to a recent article in Consumer Reports, that is precisely what is happening with a current BMW recall. The report indicates that “BMW of North America is recalling 32,760 vehicles from its 2015 to 2019 model years because the lower rear-seat anchor bars at the seat crease used to secure a child car seat may become damaged.” In other words, if a child is strapped into a car seat in one of these vehicles and a car crash happens, the vehicle may not properly hold the car seat. Accordingly, a child strapped into the car seat could sustain injuries that otherwise might have been prevented. 

What follows is everything you need to know about the recall. If your child has already been injured because of a defective auto part, you should discuss your case with a car accident lawyer in Escondido.

Details of the Recall

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markus-spiske-197281-copy-200x300Now that Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is in full swing, it is more important than ever for parents, guardians, and other family members and friends to be aware of dangerous toys that could result in child injuries. While we should not have to worry about product defects when we visit a retail store in San Marcos or elsewhere in San Diego County to shop for Christmas or Hanukkah gifts for kids, it is necessary to know that a variety of children’s products may pose injury risks. According to a recent report from CBS News, the consumer safety group World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) has just released its 2019 list of toys that could injure kids. 

WATCH List of 2019 Hazardous Toys

Just because a product poses an injury risk does not necessarily mean it will be subject to a recall. As such, it is important to know about recalled children’s products in addition to toys that have not been recalled but could cause injuries. Often, children’s products are not recalled until someone gets hurt. Many product recalls occur as a result of a marketing error, or a failure to warn. For example, if a toy maker fails to warn consumers about certain risks associated with using a product (or even fails to warn about risks associated with using the product in an improper but foreseeable manner), anyone who is injured may be able to file a product defect claim.

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markus-spiske-197281-copy-200x300It is always frightening to learn that a product your child uses has been subject to a safety recall. Parents should not panic when they learn about a recall, but rather should determine the severity of the risk posed by the product and should follow the instructions on the recall. But what happens when recalled products are still used by daycare centers, or when parents are not adequately informed about recalls of dangerous children’s products? Those are just a couple of the questions surrounding the recent recall of the Fisher Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper, as well as numerous other inclined sleepers designed for infants. 

According to a recent article in The Washington Post, the U.S. House Oversight Committee has decided to launch an investigation into infant inclined sleepers due to the number of infant deaths reported and the continued use of these products despite recall warnings from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

History of Inclined Sleeper Sales and Injuries

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hush-naidoo-382152-copy-300x200Patients in Vista and elsewhere in Southern California who have suffered injuries as a result of defective medical devices may have been the victims of an outdated medical device approval process. According to a recent article from Global Data Healthcare, patients across the U.S. received medical devices that ended up being dangerous for use and may not have been assessed as well as they could have been by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  

Now, in response to a report on tens of thousands of deaths caused by dangerous medical devices, the FDA has plans to change the way it approves medical devices for patient use.

Investigative Report Exposes Tens of Thousands of Medical Device-Related Fatalities

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kalu-ci-146209-300x200Do you own a Ford Fusion, or have you been thinking about purchasing a used Ford Fusion? Anyone in California who is currently in possession of a Ford Fusion or has considering buying one of these vehicles used should pay close attention to a recent product recall. According to a recent article in USA Today, “several dozen Ford Fusion owners complained in recent months that their steering wheels had some loose or had come off completely while driving.” After receiving numerous reports of this serious safety defects, Ford issued a large-scale recall impacting at least 1.4 million Fusion models and Lincoln MKZ Sedans. What else should you know about the recall and the dangers posed by auto product defects?

Loose Steering Wheels Could Cause Serious and Fatal Car Accidents

To be clear, 1.4 million vehicles are subject to a safety recall because their steering wheels either can become loose while a person is behind the wheel, or the steering wheel can fall off entirely while a person is driving. According to Ford, the cause of the problem is “potentially loose steering wheel bolts” which can “result in a steering wheel detaching from the steering column.” Ford indicated that, as far as the company knows, two accidents have occurred thus far, and at least one injury has happened.

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paolo-bendandi-678730-unsplash-copy-300x200Instant Pot multicookers have become extremely popular over the last year, but do they pose a risk of burn injury? Articles have emphasized that the pressure cookers can make almost anything, from stews to wines. However, according to a recent report from WebMD, certain Instant Pot models may have a safety defect that could result in the unit overheating and, ultimately, starting a fire. If you own an Instant Pot and regularly use it to make dinner in Rancho Bernardo, do you need to stop using the pressure cooker altogether? We will discuss the recall associated with defective pressure cookers and how the defect could cause burn injuries.

Getting the Facts About the Recalled Gem 65 8-in-1 Multicooker

According to the report, the problem exists in some models of the Gem 65 8-in-1 Multicooker. Many were sold at Walmart and by other popular retail outlets, and they are now being recalled. Double Insight, the company that currently imports these Instant Pot models from China, has received to date more than 100 separate reports of the Instant Pot “overheating and melting on the bottom.” In at least five cases, consumers have sustained property damage. An overheating kitchen device can pose a serious risk of burn injuries and fire damage to your home.

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imthaz-ahamed-156276-unsplash-copy-300x169Whether you live in Encinitas or another part of San Diego County, you should know about a bill that has been introduced in California to “prohibit settlement agreements that keep secret information about dangerous products and environmental hazards,” according to a recent article in the Sacramento Bee. The bill is not the first of its kind. To be sure, a number of other states have enacted similar laws to help ensure that consumers can have important information about hazardous products that could cause personal injuries. We want to provide some more information about the bill, and to give you an idea of how it could impact personal injury lawsuits in Southern California concerning product defects.

Confidential Settlements and Defective Products in California

Assemblyman Mark Stone introduced Assembly Bill 889, which is designed to prevent lawsuit settlements that are conditioned on information about defective products that could pose “a danger to public health and safety” being kept confidential. Currently, when consumers file lawsuits against manufacturers after being injured by a product with a safety defect, for example, the manufacturer can settle the lawsuit and require the consumer to agree to confidentiality. Often, such confidentiality is to ensure that a protective order issued by the court that “prevent[s] plaintiffs from disclosing information that they have learned and insist, as a condition of settling a lawsuit, that the parties remain silent about the matter.”

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