PI Review
Read our latest newsletter to keep abreast of our firm’s promotions and activities. You'll also find practical legal tips you can use in your everyday life.
Product Liability
Consumers who provide for their families or for themselves today bring products into their households with the assumption that they will perform as advertised or, at the very least, that they are safe to use. With the federal government’s Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Food Safety and Inspection Services and other federal and state agencies here in Florida looking out for us, the safety of the products we buy is often an afterthought.
Yet, thousands of Americans are injured every year by unsafe consumer products, such as unsafe medicines and prescription drugs, defective medical products, unsafe household items, defective children’s toys, consumer electronics, contaminated food and many other products.
If you’ve been injured and you believe a defective product is to blame, trust in the law firm of Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, for help with your Florida product liability claim. We serve victims of defective consumer products in South Florida and the Treasure Coast, including in Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Jupiter, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and Vero Beach.
Call (877) 536-1911 now to speak with a compassionate consumer product liability lawyer, or fill out our online contact form.
What is Product Liability in Florida?
Manufacturers have a legal responsibility to offer consumers safe products or to warn us of the risks we take in using their product. When they fail to meet that responsibility and someone using their product is seriously injured or killed, they can be held legally and financially responsible for those injuries.
In Florida, a “products liability action” or lawsuit, is based on the presumption of liability (i.e., responsibility) for “the manufacture, construction, design, formulation, installation, preparation, or assembly of a product” [FS 768.81(1)(d)].
Under Florida’s strict product liability law, manufacturers, distributors and sellers can be held liable if a product was defective. A product may be considered defective if it has been used as intended or in a reasonably foreseeable manner and it has failed to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect. If the design of the product poses a risk of danger that is beyond the product’s benefits to the consumer, that, too, can be the basis for a liability claim when an injury or death occurs.
Items Commonly Involved In Product Liability Lawsuits
Although a defect in virtually any kind of consumer product can result in serious injury or even death, there are several types of defective consumer products that are more frequently the subject of product liability lawsuits. They include:
- Drugs (pharmaceuticals), including prescription and over-the-counter medicines;
- Motor vehicles, including cars, trucks, motorcycles and tires;
- Recreational vehicles, including bicycles, ATVs and boats;
- Medical devices, including hip and breast implants;
- Children’s products, including toys, cribs, car seats and strollers;
- Household appliances;
- Electronics and other electrical devices;
- Power tools, including lawn mowers and other yard and landscaping equipment;
- Construction materials, like Chinese drywall;
- Ladders;
- Heavy machinery.
Here is more information about defective drugs and medical devices common in Florida:
You can get information about product recalls by various federal agencies at www.recalls.gov, including consumer products, foods, medicines, cosmetics, meat and poultry products, motor vehicles, vehicle emissions, child safety seats, tires, environmental products, boats and boating safety
Contact Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney Today
Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, has investigated product liability cases in South Florida and the Treasure Coast and protected the rights of victims of defective products since 1975. If you’ve been hurt, Philip DeBerard is on your side.
From offices in Stuart and Okeechobee, Florida, the product liability lawyers of Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, have obtained millions of dollars in compensation for victims of faulty consumer products throughout the state of Florida, including in Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and Vero Beach.
Our lawyers are compassionate in dealing with our clients’ individual issues and aggressive in our pursuit of personal injury and wrongful death claims on their behalf. Contact Philip DeBerard, Injury Attorney, at (877) 536-1911, or fill out our online contact form today to put their experienced product liability legal team to work on your case right away.
