When a company sells a product, it has a duty to make sure the product is reasonably safe for the intended use by consumers. This is particularly true for toys and other products meant for children, as children often may not have the knowledge or awareness to recognize risks of injury before it occurs. However, mistakes happen and sometimes products that may be hazardous make into onto store shelves. When parents purchase such products, they may put their child at risk without even knowing. Moreover, parents usually do not recognize product defects or risks until it is too late and their child has already suffered injury. If your child has been injured by an unsafe product, you may face medical bills and your child’s pain and suffering. You should contact a Philadelphia personal injury attorney as soon as possible to help you recover for all of your injury-related losses.
In order to recover for an injury caused by a dangerous product, you must show that the company was negligent in some way. There are different ways that a company may be negligent in putting an unsafe product out for sale. Some of the possible ways include:
- Design flaws: This means a flaw usually existed from the initial design process and that the product would be defective no matter how carefully it was manufactured.
- Manufacture flaws: This means that a product was designed correctly, but a particular batch was put together incorrectly, usually due to poor quality materials or careless staff.
- Improper warnings: In this type of case, a company knows a product may be dangerous, but fails to warn the consumer. For example, if a material used to make pajamas may be flammable in some situations, a clear warning label must exist or the company must fix the danger.
- Improper age marketing: This includes labeling a product as appropriate for children younger than it truly is. This is very important for products meant for children, as young children may often choke or otherwise injure themselves with toys meant for older kids.