Failure to Warn Product Injury: Filing a Lawsuit

The “failure to warn” aspect of product liability is one of the three areas of product defects, known as marketing defects. This defect arises from there being foreseeable risks that could have been protected against with proper instructions, or that the warnings given with a product themselves caused injury when they were followed.

Dangerous Product Warning Labels

There are many common products that could potentially have and have been proven to have design defects. Some of these are well known (such as SUVs, their design, and their potential for roll-over) and advertise adequate notice, and others that pose the risk of severe injury or death but do not necessarily give consumers warning. For instance, there are some household blinds that have been proven to pose risks to little children, treadmills that don’t include safety automatic-off switches, computers that overheat and cause burns, four-wheelers that can easily be overturned, cribs with slats that aren’t properly spaced, and drawstrings on children’s tops that can cause choking. Other examples include chairs that don’t carry the proper weight, medical equipment, and children’s toys, furniture and safety devices in cars.

Failure to Warn Liability

Failure to warn cases arise in two main areas. The failure to warn is where the manufacturer or seller provides the customer with no warning regarding the dangers of the product, or where the warning given was so insufficient that it doesn’t address a specific danger or effectively communicate that there is danger, and as a result the consumer is injured. Things that can be considered warnings include written words, pictures, symbols, and noises that tend to rise to a pitch of warning.

Filing a Lawsuit Against a Product Manufacturer

In order to file an lawsuit against a manufacture for failure to warn you can sue under either strict liability or negligence. In determining whether the failure to warn will result in liability, most courts will look at the following: the likelihood of the product to cause harm, was the product being used in a manner foreseeable by the manufacturer, the seriousness of the harm, was it feasible for the warning to be placed, what was the knowledge level as imputed on the consumer, and could the average person understand and heed the warning. The court then analyzes whether or not the plaintiff was harmed and if this harm was attributable to the lack of instructions.

How a Lawyer can Help

Product liability cases can get very complicated. Make sure that you seek out and procure an attorney that can guide you through the steps of a product liability lawsuit. Make sure to select a licensed attorney in your area that has some knowledge of these types of lawsuits to ensure that you are getting the most effective counsel possible.

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