Riverside Product Liability Attorneys
Manufacturers have a legal responsibility to ensure that the products they sell are safe for consumption. When you buy a car, a washing machine, a toy for your child, or any other product, you have the right to a product that works as advertised and does not carry some undisclosed risk. If the brakes on your car suddenly give out, if the medication you take causes some side effect not identified on the label or by your doctor, or if the baby powder you’ve been using for years secretly contains cancerous chemicals, you have the right and the responsibility to hold the manufacturer liable.
Every year thousands of people are injured by defective and unreasonably dangerous products. At Ochoa & Calderón, we help the victims of defective products and their families hold product manufacturers, distributors, and other responsible parties liable for the harm they have caused. We’ll help you get compensated for your medical bills, your lost wages, and your pain and suffering. Call our Riverside product liability lawyers today for help with a defective products claim in Southern California.
Types of Defective Product Claims
Whenever a victim is injured by a defective product, they have the right to seek compensation. There are a few different ways in which the product can be defective. Product liability claims generally fall into one of three categories. The product liability professionals at Ochoa & Calderón will investigate the circumstances of your defective product accident and identify which of the following best describes the product that hurt you:
Manufacturing Mistake. A manufacturing defect claim arises when an error is introduced during the manufacturing process. The product may be safe and appropriate as designed, but at some point during the product’s assembly, someone made a mistake that caused your particular unit to be faulty. The defect may apply to a particular production lot–such as if a local manufacturer switched suppliers and wound up using faulty raw materials–or even to a particular unit, for instance, if a screw was misplaced in the product you purchased.
A line of cars with airbags that were improperly installed, for example, might give rise to a manufacturing defect claim. A manufacturing defect may implicate the original manufacturer as well as other parties down the supply chain.
Defective Design. A design defect claim arises when the original design of the product has an inherent flaw. The product may be too dangerous for its intended use, the product may not actually serve the function for which it was designed, or some other problem may become apparent upon use of the product. The design flaw will affect every product produced using that design, often leading to a product recall. Automakers often recall certain makes and models because every unit in that product line was built with a dangerous defect.
Deceptive Marketing Practices / Failure to Warn. A product liability claim may also be premised on defective marketing. When a product manufacturer knows of a particular risk or side effect and fails to disclose that risk to consumers, or when a manufacturer fails to include sufficient instructions as to the proper use of a product, the manufacturer may be held liable for any resulting injuries.
For example, if a company sells ladders and fails to disclose that the ladder will likely break under more than 200lbs of pressure, the ladder manufacturer would likely be liable for any injuries resulting from someone carrying more than 200lbs of combined weight up the ladder. Prescription medications and other medical products are often defective under a theory of defective marketing or failure to warn.
Personal Injury Professionals Helping Victims of All Types of Defective Product Accidents
Product liability is a broad area of law that covers injuries and other damages caused by all manner of products and devices. If you bought or used a product manufactured by someone else and that product’s defective nature caused you harm, you could have a claim for damages. Product liability covers everything from sunglasses that fail to block out the sun to kitchen stoves with faulty pilot lights to cars built with defective brakes.
At Ochoa & Calderón, we help injured victims recover the damages they are owed after all manner of defective products cause them harm, including:
- Home appliances, such as stoves or washing machines
- Medical devices, such as defective metal-on-metal hip implants
- Auto parts, truck parts, and other vehicle defects
- Poorly labeled prescription or over-the-counter medications
- Contaminated food products
- Medical products with undisclosed side effects
- Defective toys
- Ineffective or defective consumer products
- Harmful cosmetic products, such as contaminated baby powder or talcum powder
- Faulty structures, such as cracked swing sets or jungle gyms
- And many more!
If you or someone you care about was injured as a result of a defectively built, designed, or marketed product, whatever that product may be, you have the right to compensation for the harm you and your family have suffered. Our seasoned products liability legal team is ready to help.
Call Today for Help With a Riverside Defective Product Claim
If you’ve been hurt by a defective product in Riverside or suffered a personal injury in Southern California resulting from another person’s negligence or misconduct, call Ochoa & Calderón for a free consultation on your claims. We only charge a fee after we are successful in recovering compensation for you. No recovery, no fee.
