Articles Posted in Defective Products

A lot of our readers may have heard about the E.coli outbreak associated with Chipotle. It has reached our state and five others. It is not yet clear which food specifically caused the outbreak, but it does give us an opportunity to discuss food outbreaks in general.

A lot of people are very careful with the type of meat they use and how long they keep it. Why? Meat has been recalled for various reasons throughout the country every year. Last year there were 18 million pounds of meat recalled. That may seem like a lot, but if you go back to 2008, there were 154 million pounds of meat recalled.

The types of meat that are most recalled vary from year to year. During some years, beef, pork and poultry took the top spots. Other meats, such as buffalo, sheep, and “mixed” meats have also been recalled throughout the years.

When it comes to having a child, parents will go to great lengths to keep their child safe. Before bringing an infant into the world, parents will often research various purchases, such as cribs and child safety seats, in order to find the best and safest brand on the market.

It makes sense, then, that a recall for something as important as a child safety seat can be quite alarming to any parent. Recently, Britax announced that it is recalling some 71,000 car seats across the country. The safety seats apparently have an issue with the handle. The carrying handle on these devices can apparently break, which could lead to an infant being dropped in his or her car seat.

The company says they have had one report of a child being injured due to the handle breaking. The child apparently got a bump on the head and suffered a bruise. The first complaint, according to the company, came last May, followed by other complaints.

An old product recall case has sparked a lawsuit brought by nearly 120 women against a pharmaceutical company. The recall happened back in 2011 and involved birth control pills. The pills were apparently packaged out of order, which potentially left women vulnerable to pregnancy. More than half a million blister packs were recalled after one customer noticed the pills were out of order.

Of the women involved in the lawsuit, more than 100 became pregnant and 94 of them carried the child to term. They are suing the company, as well as other companies that were involved in making and distributing the pills under other brand names, seeking damages for medical costs, lost income and for some, the cost of raising a child.

A similar lawsuit was recently rejected class-action status by a U.S. district judge. The judge said he considers each woman’s case unique and that each one should be weighed individually based on its specific and circumstances.

When an accident happens, there is a wide variety of injuries that can occur, from broken bones to scrapes to concussions. One of the more painful injuries that may occur during a car accident or from a defective product is a burn injury.

Burns can be caused by boiling water, explosions, fires, chemicals, sun exposure, and electrical equipment, among other things. This type of injury may happen just about anywhere. An employee may be working with flammable chemicals at an automotive shop and experience a severe burn. A homemaker may get burned while cooking. No matter the scenario, these burns can be extremely painful and can cause long-term or even permanent damage.

In general, there are three degrees of burns. First-degree burns are the least severe. The symptoms usually include redness at the burn area and non-blistering skin. The skin may peel as it heals and may swell a bit. A second-degree burn is the type that causes blistering and possible thickening of the skin where the injury occurred. Finally, you can also get a third-degree burn. In this case the thickness of the skin becomes white and leathery in appearance. There is also technically such a thing as a fourth-degree burn, where the burn goes down into the bones and tendons.

During the holiday season, a lot of new products will enter the home. Kids will receive new toys and parents will receive new long-awaited gadgets. It is a time of year that many are very excited about. Once the presents are unwrapped, the new products will usually get their fair share of use, especially in the months to come. The hope, of course, is that these products bring joy to those that receive them, but unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Across the country, someone may inevitably encounter a dangerous product. It may be a toy that causes a child to get hurt or a kitchen gadget that malfunctions and causes a severe burn. Initially, the injured individual may blame themselves or chalk it up to a freak accident, but as more information comes out about the product nationwide, they might realize that this was truly not their fault.

Some individuals may be hesitant to discuss their case with a lawyer, feeling they don’t have a strong enough case. Others may feel their injury is not substantial enough to warrant a lawsuit. No matter the situation, it may be in your best interest to at least discuss your case with a product liability attorney. While an injury may seem minimal at first, that injury may lead to substantial financial loss over the long term. Similarly, you may not be the only person who experienced injury due to this product and it may be important to hold those who made and distributed the product accountable.

It hardly seems unreasonable to argue that a consumer in New York or anywhere else in the United States has the right to use purchased products in a confident manner.

Put another way: They shouldn’t explode, ignite, fail to engage as promised, collapse, start or shut off unexpectedly, or otherwise operate in a manner that injures their user.

There are state and federal laws that address such problems, and their origins are grounded in the sad reality that consumers flatly need to be legally protected against products that are negligently designed or manufactured, or that fail to adequately warn against dangers when used in certain ways.

The fanfare behind the new IPhone 6 Plus may not have been as great as prior IPhone releases, but customers appear generally happy with the new smartphone iteration. However, with each new phone release, there the expected defects and bugs that can drive customers crazy, and the IPhone 6 Plus is no different.

There have been consumer complaints about the new IPhone overheating. Essentially, the new fingerprint sensor that allows users (and no one else) to access the phone causes the device to overheat and shut down. While the problem is not the same as the Stacks phones in the move “Annie” it brings about the question of what a manufacturer’s liability would be should an overheating phone injure a consumer. 

Basically, a manufacturer has a legal duty to ensure that a product it puts out in the marketplace is safe for its intended uses. This means that they must take reasonable steps to remedy defects that could put consumers in danger by informing customers through recalls and replacing problematic products when necessary.

While a number of our posts have focused on automotive recalls, there are many other product recalls that can affect our readers in different ways. For instance, everyone at some time goes to the grocery store to buy food. In the last few weeks, a number of important food recalls have been initiated.

For instance, Dole Fresh Vegetables has called for a recall of bagged spinach due to fears about possible salmonella contamination. This bacteria could be potentially harmful if ingested. Officials from Dole indicate that the recall is a precautionary one, and that no consumers have been sickened as of yet. A random sample of spinach was tested by the State of Michigan’s Agriculture Department.

According to a USA Today.com report, the recall affects more than 33,000 bags of spinach, which were distributed to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and a number of other states. Health officials advise consumers that if they purchased Dole spinach that have certain product codes to discard the bags immediately.

A dehumidifier was reportedly responsible for causing a house fire in the town of Marcellus on Thursday evening. According to a Syracuse.com report, firefighters from several departments responded just before midnight to put out the fire. Because of such a quick response, the small fire that was found in the basement was quickly put out before it could spread to the rest of the house.

Fortunately, the fire was isolated and eliminated quickly so that no other rooms in the structure were affected. Authorities believe that the dehumidifier was the sole cause of the fire. It is unknown as of this writing whether authorities believe that the device was defective or whether it was operating unattended. 

If it was the former, the maker of the dehumidifier could be held liable for the damage to the home. Essentially, manufacturers have a duty to use reasonable care when building a product and making it available for sale. The product should perform according to its expected use without putting its owner in danger. Moreover, if a product is deemed to be defective, the manufacturer should take affirmative steps to warn consumers by issuing a recall.

We hear about many types of product recalls throughout the year, from toys to various household appliances to motor vehicles. The basic point of a product recall is to make sure that the unsafe product does not hurt consumers.

A recent recall is definitely alarming because the product is actually made to keep individuals safe. In this case, it is not that the product itself could hurt a consumer, but the concern actually has to do with the product malfunctioning and therefore failing to alert individuals of danger.

Nearly 400,000 heat-activated fire alarms made by Sure Signal Products have been recalled. The alarms can apparently fail to alert those who use it due to a defective fuse. This defect was apparently revealed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Four different brands and models are being recalled; all are either chrome or white in color. These fire alarms were made between Jan. 1, 2014 and July 1, 2015.