Michigan Product Liability Attorney

When a Michigan Product Liability Attorney Might Be Needed

 A product liability case can arise when one of three situations occurs. These include:

• The product was defectively manufactured—This is considered the most obvious and common type of product liability case. When a product is defectively manufactured, it is released to consumers in a flawed state due to an error that occurred while it was being produced. This can include edible products that were tainted with harmful chemicals, a design that was made during the production process or faulty materials that were used.
• The product was defectively designed—When a product is defectively designed, it is assumed that an entire line of products is inherently dangerous. This risk exists even if the products were made according to the specifications of the manufacturer.
• The product did not come with adequate warning or instructions—This type of product liability case occurs when a product does not come with instructions that tell consumers how to use it or a warning that keeps consumers from using the product in a certain way. For pharmaceutical products it could be a failure to warn patients of the risks the drug poses.

In each of these three types of cases, consumers must be able to prove that the product was defective, and that due to this defect, they experienced unnecessary harm or injury.

Product Liability Case Examples

From talcum powder to bicycles, nearly any type of product produced today could be defective in some way. For example, in 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a warning to owners of specific Chrysler, Ford, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and BMW models that had Takata airbags installed in them. Many of the airbags in these vehicles were recalled because of safety issues that occurred when the airbags were exposed to high temperatures and humidity on a regular basis.

In another product liability situation, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned all cribs with drop-down sides after they were a factor in the death of at least 31 babies. These deaths occurred because cribs with drop-down sides came with hazards that could result in suffocation or strangulation of an infant. Today, federal standards prohibit drop-down cribs from being sold, manufactured or resold, and new safety guidelines for cribs have been established.