California law protects consumers from defective and/or dangerous products. The East Sacramento products liability lawyers at AutoAccident.com have extensive experience in protecting the legal rights of consumers injured by medical devices, drugs, household products, recreational safety equipment, food additives, and all sorts of other items sold to the public.

If you or someone you love suffered an injury or medical harm based on using a defective product, you may be entitled to monetary damages – recovery for your medical expenses, lost income, and your pain and suffering. Our law firm believes that the entity responsible for allowing dangerous products to be sold to consumers should be held financially responsible. Call our injury attorneys at (916) 921-6400 for a free case evaluation.

Products sold on the American marketplace are generally safe. Our country has many government regulations that aim to protect the well-being of consumers. There are also countless independent consumer safety advocacy groups. Because of all the safeguards in place, Americans enjoy general confidence that products sold to us are safe.  But no system is foolproof.  Negligence can happen at any point in the manufacturing process. Consumer injuries or deaths can occur when a defective or dangerous product makes it to the marketplace.  

Examining the nature of the product’s defect is essential in determining the entity or entities responsible for the harm caused. Below are some of the defects that California law recognizes:

Sometimes there is an inherent flaw in a product’s design. When that is the case, the defective or dangerous condition will apply to the entire line of products rather than just one item. A defect in design means the product’s creator did not design the item to be as safe as possible. A design defect alleges that every product within a line fails to be as safe as expected by a reasonable consumer. The inherent dangers presented by the design post a risk that a reasonable consumer would not foresee.

An example of a design defect would be the Samsung Galaxy Note phones equipped with defective lithium-ion batteries that regularly overheated. The phones caused burn injuries to some consumers because they were prone to spontaneous combustion. 

With a manufacturing defect, the product’s design does not include inherent flaws. Instead, in these cases, something goes wrong at some point in the creation or assembly of the product- it is a departure from the intended design. The allegation of a manufacturing defect is that the product maker produced an item that was not what was intended. With a manufacturing defect, the item that caused your injury may differ from those in the same product line. Examples of manufacturing defects are a broken chain on a child’s outdoor playset or a hazardous substance found within a medication.

It is often alleged in product liability cases that the manufacturer failed to warn of a hazard associated with the product. Certain products are not entirely safe to use because of their inherent nature. For example, electrical appliances risk electrocution, power tools can cause numerous injuries, and some kitchen appliances may result in scalding injuries. 

When a product is safely designed and manufactured correctly yet still carries risks, the manufacturer must warn of the risks that may not be immediately obvious to a consumer. The distributor, retailer, and manufacturer must warn of the risks. Failure to provide sufficient warnings about a product is a form of negligence. Anyone harmed by a product that did not adequately warn of the risks may be able to receive compensation from one or more entities as a result of that failure.

It takes strength to withstand the recovery process following an injury. It takes courage to file a lawsuit against a large, profitable corporation. An unacceptable number of American consumers have been left with chronic pain, diagnosed with severe diseases, or permanently disabled simply because they used a product they assumed was safe. If this has happened to you, a critical step in protecting your legal rights is contacting our skilled East Sacramento products liability attorneys to receive information about your options. By their very nature, product liability cases can be challenging and complex, and our attorneys have the necessary experience to successfully navigate such complicated cases. We welcome you to contact us about your potential case at no obligation.

If you or a loved one has suffered harm from using a consumer product, call our office for free, friendly, and compassionate advice.   A delay in seeking legal counsel can harm your case, and a qualified East Sacramento products liability attorney can help maximize its value. Call us at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400. We can schedule a no-obligation consultation. If you prefer, you may also fill out our online contact form. See our past cases on our Verdicts and Settlements page.

^{Editor’s Note: updated 7.17.23 Photo by Achudh Krishna on Unsplash mm [cs 846]}