We encounter innumerable products in our daily lives and we rely upon those products to perform as intended for our safety.

When a product does not perform as intended or a product is unreasonably dangerous when put to its intended use it can injure its user. When a manufacturing defect causes a product to malfunction or a design choice makes a product unreasonably dangerous and the product causes injuries to the user, the manufacturer can be held automatically liable. If a manufacturer fails to warn of a danger that was unknown to the user, it can also be automatically liable if it knew of the danger prior to sale of the product.

Manufacturers also have a duty to anticipate reasonably foreseeable uses of a product and protect users against dangers associated with those alternative uses. A flat-head screwdriver is made to tighten and loosen certain screws, but a manufacturer must anticipate that it will also be used to open paint cans. If a user puts the screwdriver to this reasonably anticipated use and the tip breaks off and injures the user, the manufacturer can be held liable in negligence. This is negligent design. A manufacturer can also be liable for negligent failure to warn if it failed to experiment and find dangers that a user would be exposed to. It cannot turn a blind eye to dangers associated with its product and claim that it could not have warned of the dangers because it did not know of them.

We see products liability cases in the news every day. Every pharmaceutical class action and automobile recall is a product liability case. Manufacturers are liable for injuries caused by every product that they sell-not just when a significant number of their products fail in some way. It only takes one sizeable air-bubble in the metal of a flat-head screwdriver for someone to lose an eye when she attempts to remove the lid from paint can. If you were injured by a defective product, call DF&A for a free consultation and we will work to get you all the compensation you deserve.