Products Liability Overview

Adults and children often are injured by defects in goods, including auto industry products, construction materials, children’s toys and care equipment, medical devices, drugs and other consumer products. Manufacturers are responsible for designing and manufacturing safe products, and they can be held liable when they fail to do so.

Drugs

Drug makers can be held liable for developing and releasing drugs that have not been adequately tested or whose safety tests raised red flags that the makers ignored. Among the drugs currently being scrutinized by the FDA and in court are Vioxx, Bextra, Zyprexa and PPA. 

Vioxx is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to treat arthritis. It was pulled from the market by its maker, Merck, after a three-year study showed it caused an increased risk for stroke and heart attack. If you took Vioxx and suffered a heart attack or stroke, you may have a claim.

Bextra is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to treat arthritis. The FDA has asked Pfizer to pull the drug from the market because of the increased risk for heart attack and stroke. Pfizer has stopped marketing Bextra while it discusses the situation with the FDA.

Zyprexa is a psychotropic drug used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Its use has been linked to diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperglycemia, and pancreatitis. If you have used Zyprexa and have been diagnosed with any of these conditions, you should have your claim evaluated.

Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is used in over-the-counter diet pills and cold medicines. The FDA is working to remove PPA from all drug products because of the increased risk for a fatal stroke.

Defective automobile products

Auto makers build cars and trucks that they claim are safe. Sometimes through design failures, substandard materials or inadequate testing, vehicles or parts of vehicles are unsafe and can cause serious harm and death. Defective automobile claims often involve air bags, seat belts, unexpected rollover, excessive roof crush, low crash worthiness, fires and substandard tires.

Defective child products

Parents expect their children’s toys, beds, bedding and safety equipment such as car seats to be safe and properly designed. Statistics show this is not always the case. In 2003, 11 children died and 206,500 were injured by toys; about 50 children die each year and more than 60,000 are injured from nursery products, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Makers of defective products can be held liable.

Defective medical devices

Makers of medical devices who fail to produce safe products can be held responsible for their negligence. Devices that sometimes do not meet strict safety standards include hip and knee replacements, pacemakers, heart stents and catheters, dialysis filters, brain stents, breast implants, joint replacements and latex products.