Ledraplastic allegedly marketed the ball as being “burst resistant” and able to withstand 600 pounds. Because Garcia weighed roughly 220 pounds and was holding two 90-pound weights, it is clear that this product did not live up to its self-inflicted hype. During the trial, Garcia’s product liability lawyer was able to recreate the product failure by placing 400 pounds onto the exercise ball.
Philip Morris is a much different company than they were only a few years ago. As a brand that built its name on the back of cigarette and tobacco sales, PMI (Philip Morris International) has undergone a serious transformation over the past few years. Today, this corporation focuses on creating and curating smoke-free products that offers smokers a healthier alternative to cigarettes.
The cigarette giant faced a massive lawsuit back in the early 2000s. In 2002, 64-year-old Missouri City woman Betty Bullock hired a legal team to prove that her tobacco addiction (and subsequent lung cancer) was directly caused by Philip Morris’s failure to warn her (and other consumers) of the dangers related to smoking.
Bullock had been using tobacco products since she was a 17-year-old in the 1950s. Her attorneys alleged that in the same decade, Philip Morris launched a widespread misinformation campaign in an attempt to conceal the dangers associated with smoking cigarettes. Attorney Michael Piuze argued that the brand also marketed their products to children while destroying research data pointing towards an adverse health impact from tobacco use.
Not every product liability claim will fall under the same category. There are multiple types of product liability claims, and if you are planning on filing, you and your attorney will need to be aware of the different categories.
The most common and most obvious type of product liability is the defective manufacture claim. This occurs when a product is flawed as a direct result of a manufacturing error. When this happens, the product will be different from other copies, and it may even pose a health and safety risk to anyone who dares to use it.
A design defect claim can occur if a product is deemed to be inherently dangerous due to a design flaw, even though it may be non-defective or manufactured as planned. For example, let’s say the new Chevy Tahoe features a sleek new top-heavy design, but because of this, the SUV now has an increased rollover risk that has led to multiple deadly car accidents. If this occurs, a design defect claim may be in play.
Lost wages are commonplace in product liability claims. A defective product has the ability to put you out of work for an extended period of time. If you’re recovering from an injury caused by a defective airbag, drug, vehicle, or piece of machinery, you may have incurred some serious physical damage that has caused you to miss weeks and months of work.
Emotional distress is another damage you may be able to receive compensation for. Product defects can have awful consequences, and emotional damage is most certainly one of them. If you have been negatively affected or traumatized by the injury you sustained due to a product defect, you may be entitled to compensation. Hiring a high-quality product liability lawyer and filing a claim can lead to compensation for mental health treatments such as psychiatry, therapy, counseling, and prescription medicine.
A defective product has the potential to ruin innocent lives. Because of this, we take product defects and product liability cases extremely seriously. If you have been injured by a defective product, our team of professionals are here to help you build your lawsuit and help you recover from your damages. Manufacturers must be held accountable when their lack of quality control causes their customers to suffer injury. No corporation should be able to get away with creating a defective product that ruins one of their customer’s lives through physical injury, emotional trauma, and financial turmoil.
Have you been directly or indirectly hurt by a faulty or defective product? If so, Pusch & Nguyen can help. As top Houston personal injury attorneys, we serve clients who are trying to file a product liability lawsuit. Based in Houston, Texas, Pusch & Nguyen are here to help you recover from the damages you’ve experienced as a result of a faulty product. Contact us today at 713-597-8420 to learn more about our law firm.