Accidents and injuries can happen in many ways, but sometimes, they are caused by a product that doesn’t perform as expected.
When this occurs, the injured person might be thoroughly confused about what happened. They may have used this same product in the same way on many other occasions and never experienced a malfunction before.
How Can a Gwinnett County Defective Product Attorney Help?
When a defective product leaves you injured, you might have medical bills, lost income, pain, and other damages. However, the product manufacturer probably won’t offer to pay those damages for you—and they’ll likely deny their product was the cause.
An experienced defective product lawyer can help you file a claim against the responsible party so you can recover the compensation you need to move forward.
What Are Some Common Types of Defective Products?
Almost any product can be defective, and if you suspect a defective product caused your injuries, we recommend speaking to a defective product lawyer to learn more. But here are some of the common categories of defective product cases we see:
Household Appliances
These can malfunction in many ways. One frequent scenario is the electrical item that overheats or has defective wiring, often leading to burns or house fires.
Items that heat up, such as toasters, ovens, hair dryers, clothing dryers, etc., pose the biggest risk, but any electrical item can cause a fire if the wiring is bad. Kitchen appliances or tools used for cutting can be dangerous if they don’t have appropriate safety features to prevent the user from getting injured.
Toys
No one wants to think of their child being hurt by a defective toy, but toy and childcare product recalls are common. Products designed for small children sometimes have small, loose parts that could pose a choking hazard.
Other items could collapse or close in a way that injures the child or may pose a suffocation risk. Additionally, some toys may contain lead or other toxic substances.
Car and Car Components
While the most common cause of car accidents is human error—one or both drivers make a mistake that causes the accident—there are some cases where the car or one of its parts is to blame.
For example, millions of Toyotas were recalled after numerous reports that “sticky accelerators” caused accidents. It was later determined that pedal design and floormat placement contributed to the accelerators becoming stuck and continuing to accelerate when the driver tried to slow or stop the car.
Sometimes, a client will tell us that they know an accident looks like their fault, but it wasn’t. They did everything correctly, but the car didn’t respond right, or something went wrong unexpectedly. If this sounds familiar, we encourage you to speak with a lawyer right away.
Sometimes smaller, recreational vehicles can also have defects that lead to accidents—golf carts, ATVs, boats, other watercraft, etc.
Drugs and Medical Devices
Injuries from defective drugs or medical devices can be insidious. You may not notice anything wrong when you start using a medication or device—sometimes, it could be months or even years before you experience severe side effects.
When they do happen, you may not connect them to your medication, and your doctor might not be aware of the relationship either.
If you experience severe health complications that don’t make sense, are very rare, or that your doctors can’t find an explanation for, it’s a good idea to consider any medications or medical devices you’re using, no matter how long you’ve been on them (however, you should not stop using a drug or device without talking to your doctor).
If you suspect a medication caused your serious health issues, please talk with a defective product lawyer.
Safety Devices
No safety device is 100 percent effective in every situation. Bicycle helmets, for example, drastically reduce the risk of a severe head injury if you fall off your bike, but they don’t eliminate the risk completely.
The fact that you were injured while using a safety device doesn’t necessarily mean it was defective. However, like the seatbelts or airbags in your car, safety devices are expected to meet certain industry standards.
If they fail to do so and you suffer an injury, you may have a claim against the manufacturer.
Industrial Equipment or Tools
Most people understand that saws, cutting tools, machines for chopping or disassembling, and other items of workplace equipment can be dangerous if mishandled. For this reason, workplaces usually have strict rules and training to ensure employees use these devices correctly and reduce the risk of injury.
But what if you and your coworkers were following all the safety precautions and you still suffered an injury? If the device behaved in an unexpected way, causing you harm, you probably sought benefits from Worker’s Compensation—as you should.
However, Worker’s Compensation doesn’t cover all your damages, only your medical bills and about two-thirds of your lost income.
Some people believe they can’t file a lawsuit if they were injured at work because Worker’s Compensation covers their injuries, but this is only partly true. You can’t sue your employer for an injury covered by Worker’s Compensation, but you can sue a third party if they were responsible for your worksite injury.
If we find evidence that a defective product led to your injuries, we can seek to recover any lost income not paid by Worker’s Comp, plus other damages like pain and suffering, from the product manufacturer.
What Should You Do if You Suspect a Defective Product Harmed You?
First, please get medical attention for your injuries.
Even if you think your injuries were mild, it’s beneficial to see a doctor. Sometimes, people think they’re all right after an accident but wake up in pain the next day—if this happens to you, go ahead and see a healthcare professional as soon as possible.
If you need to give a statement to the authorities—which is typical in car accidents and many other incidents that cause injuries or property damage—you should answer their questions honestly. Avoid speculating about fault since you may not have all the facts; some people mistakenly believe they were at fault when they weren’t.
If there is an accident report about your injury, try to get a copy. The responding law enforcement officer should be able to tell you how to request a copy and approximately when it might be available.
If you forget to ask at the moment, you can contact the law enforcement agency at their non-emergency number later.
Additionally, we recommend that you save the potentially defective product so that we can examine it. We know this may be challenging, but if you have to move the product, do so carefully and try not to disturb its current condition, whatever that may be.
It’s also helpful to take pictures of the product and how it looked shortly after the accident, as well as your injuries.
Please contact a defective product lawyer as soon as possible to learn more about the options in your case.
How Long Do You Have to File a Defective Product Claim in Georgia?
In most situations, you have two years from when you knew or should have known that the product injured you.
Some people become aware of injuries almost immediately. But in other cases—especially those involving defective drugs or medical devices—it may take months or even years to realize the damage the device caused.
Georgia has a ten-year statute of repose in defective product cases, which means that the lawsuit must be filed within ten years of when the product was sold. There are a few exceptions, such as when the manufacturer failed to warn about the product’s potential dangers, but in most cases, you will not be able to file a claim if more than a decade has passed since the sale.
Here is something else to remember about the statute of limitations: We usually need to spend some time investigating, gathering evidence, and building a solid case before we file a lawsuit, so you shouldn’t assume you have X amount of time left. If you suspect a defective product harmed you or a loved one, please seek legal help as soon as possible.
How Can You Get Help From a Gwinnett County Defective Product Law Firm?
If you have questions or concerns about a potential defective product claim, please contact The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation. We’ll learn about your injuries and how they happened, answer your questions, and review your options for seeking compensation.
There is no obligation, and if we take your case, you won’t owe us anything until we win or settle it.
Attorney Ali Awad founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm and, within a few short years, turned it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. Through his hard work and dedication to helping injured people, he has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for his clients.
In his spare time, he makes entertaining yet educational posts for more than a million followers on social media. Call his team of expert lawyers today at (470) 323-8779.
