When we buy something, we assume that it wouldn’t be offered for sale if it weren’t safe to use. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Every year, thousands of Americans are injured by unsafe consumer products such as defective children’s toys, unsafe household items, contaminated food and many others.

If you or someone you care about was hurt or killed by a defective product, contact the Louthian Law Firm today at Toll free: 888-926-0051 or Locally: 803-454-1200 or online for a free evaluation of your case.

• DePuy Hip Replacement
• Unsafe Toys
• Mesothelioma
• Toyota Acceleration Accidents
• Tire Defects Accidents
• Benzene Injuries
• Bausch & Lomb Contact Solution
• Consumer Protection

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, a federal agency charged with monitoring the safety of the things we buy and use, recalls hundreds of products each year, and reports that defective products cost America more than $700 billion annually. Those products have included millions of cars that were released into the marketplace with serious defects, from faulty tires that failed at highway speed to design flaws that caused deadly rollover accidents.

Manufacturers have a legal duty not to offer us unsafe products without warning. When they fail in that duty and someone is seriously injured or killed, we have the right to hold them legally and financially responsible for those injuries. South Carolina law defines three ways in which consumers can claim a product was defective:

• Defective design, in which the people who originally planned the product designed a flaw into it, so that every individual product has the same flaw. An example might be the Thomas & Friends wooden train toys recalled in June of 2007 because they were coated with poisonous lead paint.
• Defective manufacture, in which the design of the product is fine, but something went wrong when it was being made. Several brands of peanut butter were recalled in early 2007 for a manufacturing defect that contaminated the peanut butter with salmonella.
• Failure to warn, in which a product either doesn’t carry any warning at all about potential hazards of using the product, or carries a warning that’s not effective enough. Products from hair dryers to glue to automobiles must carry these types of warnings.

An injured consumer may sue over a defective product even if he or she was not the original buyer, but must show that the defective product caused the injury; that it was used as intended and that it was not substantially altered. Unsafe prescription drugs are a special type of defective consumer product.

Government agencies that keep track of defective products and allow consumers to make formal complaints include the Federal Trade Commission; the Consumer Product Safety Commission; the Food and Drug Administration and the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.

Contact our South Carolina Product Injury Attorneys Today

If you or someone you care about has been injured by a defective product, you have the right to ask the manufacturer for money to cover your medical bills, property damage, pain and suffering and any permanent disability or loss. In order to protect that right, you should speak with the experienced product injuries attorneys at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. We have more than 50 years of experience helping injured South Carolinians seek justice, and we’re committed to ensuring that you get the best legal representation possible. For a free consultation, call us today at Toll free: 888-926-0051 or Locally: 803-454-120, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.