When we purchase any new product or use a piece of equipment at work or at home, we expect these items to work as advertised. Unfortunately, a lot of items aren’t as safe as they’re supposed to be, and these defective products can cause injuries or loss of work.

In its most basic definition, defective means having a defect or flaw. An item or product that is defective has flaws that can cause problems, sometimes catastrophic ones. Even when these faulty products are used correctly, according to the manufacturer’s guidelines, they will still break and create injuries to the consumer.

Most of us expect items we purchase off store shelves to be safe to use. It goes through many eyes and hands before it makes it into yours. There’s the designer, the manufacturer, the marketer, the buyer from the store who chooses that item for the retailer’s shelves, and others on the supply chain that should acknowledge problems with a product before it hits store shelves and gets in the hands of consumers.

Sadly, no matter how many levels of quality assurance checks products go through, problems seem to arise, endangering consumers’ lives. There’s not just one type of defect that ends up with the filing of product liability claims in West Virginia, but instead, multiple ones. Read on to learn more about the defects in product liability claims so that if you’ve had the misfortune of becoming hurt, you’ll have a better idea if you may have a valid reason to take legal action.

In the winter, snowfall can cause a lot of extra work for home and property owners. Rather than labor-intensive shoveling, some people choose to buy snow blowers to quickly and easily remove snow from driveways, sidewalks, and other walkways. As with any machinery, though, people can get injured while using snow blowers.

When a product is defective and causes you unexpected harm, it can be shocking and you might not know what to do. That’s where a product liability lawyer comes in. One of our attorneys from DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC in Charleston can help you recover compensation for your injuries caused by a defective product.

Whether you’re buying a toy for your child, a niece or nephew, a child in your family, or your friend’s children, it’s important to consider safety before purchasing and presenting the toy to the child. Even though the toy you want to buy is the toy of the season that everyone is getting, you still want to make sure that it will be safe for the specific child you’re planning to purchase it for.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were over 226,000 toy-related injuries in children under 15 in 2018, and 17 children died from toys. In all ages, injuries most commonly occurred to the face and head. Much less common were injuries to arms and legs. All these injuries could be prevented by taking proper safety precaution.

When a product that was marketed to you as safe, or that you thought was safe, ends up harming you in unexpected ways, then you could have a product liability claim. Product manufacturers are responsible for testing their product to ensure that it is safe in the way that it is intended to be used. If those products are not properly tested, they are falsely advertised, or a batch was changed from someone’s negligence, then the product could cause serious harm, or result in a fatality.

When manufacturers find a defect in an automobile, they will usually send out a letter to vehicle owners saying that they need to take it back to the dealership to have the defective part fixed. The defects aren’t always severe and could just be a small part that needs to be replaced in just a couple thousand vehicles.

Wellness is a term becoming more prevalent in our society. People are looking for ways to give themselves the best care possible. This is an excellent goal to have, but sometimes when people don’t have all the information, it can lead to taking substances that end up harming them. There are many unknowns when it comes to natural remedies as they’re not prescribed by doctors. If you’ve been taking natural remedies and have sustained injuries or illness, you should explore your legal options.

Product liability is an area of personal injury law for when defective products harm the people who use them. The natural remedy you’ve taken may have caused injuries and the company that was involved with that remedy may have known about the dangers of the substance or made a mistake when making and selling it. In any case, it’s worth taking a look into. The lawyers at DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC will review the validity of your claim. If we believe you have a case, we can start fighting for you.

Many people depend on medical devices to help make their lives easier. But when those devices fail, they can cause serious injuries. When this happens, the person may need to undergo more treatment or surgeries to fix the problem. After that’s done, they may have medical expenses and other costs that they are now responsible for.

In order to prevent injuries or complications due to a defective medical device, it can help to know which devices have a history of being defective, are under a current recall, or are being investigated by the federal government. Here are some of the most common defective medical devices in 2019 as well as some information about product recalls that may help keep you and your family informed:

Since the rise of people taking prescribed opioids, addiction has increased in the U.S. In 2012, it was estimated that 2.1 million people in the country abuse opioids. West Virginia is one of the states the epidemic has hit the hardest.

The opioid epidemic continues to hurt Americans through addiction and overdoses. Drug manufacturing companies are facing scrutiny about withholding information about how opioids work and how easy it is for people to become addicted. As more people are questioning drug companies and thinking they could have provided more information that could have prevented addictions and overdoses, more legal options are opening up and becoming available. If your health has suffered due to a prescription opioid dependence you feel could have been prevented, our Charleston opioid litigation lawyers may be able to help.