If you live in Providence and you have been injured by a product you used or you suffered other damages, you may have to file a Providence product liability claim. If you want to file a successful claim, you have to know what the law requires of you. These are some of the elements in your claim that you must prove:
- You were injured or suffered other damages
- The product was defective
- The defect in the product caused your injuries
- You were using the product as per the manufacturer’s instructions
Let’s discuss all the above elements in detail.
Elements of a Providence Product liability Claim
You Were Injured or Suffered Damages
You must show that you suffered an actual injury or monetary loss as a result of using the defective product. Simply showing that you were nearly injured or your property was nearly damaged won’t cut it.
The Product Was Defective
Proving that the product was defective depends on the type of claim you are making. There are three types of defective product liability claims:
Failure to Provide Adequate Instructions or Warnings
This is whereby the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warning or instructions about the proper use of the product. An example of failure to warn is when a bottle of cough syrup does not warn users that there are dangerous side effects of using it with certain types of drugs. Another example is hair dye that contains a certain ingredient that is known to cause allergic reactions to certain skin types.
Defectively Designed Product
This is whereby the design of the product is defective or dangerous. A defective product claim involves the claim that an entire line of products is inherently dangerous even if the product that caused the injury was made according to the manufacturer’s specification.
A great example of a defectively designed product would be the recently recalled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 over its battery problem. There were numerous reports that the devices caught fire while charging.
Defectively Manufactured Product
This is the most common type of product liability claim. A product becomes defective if there was an error during the manufacturing process. An example includes a tinted batch of salad dressing containing a poisonous substance.
You have to keep in mind that just because a product is dangerous in one way or another, doesn’t mean that the manufacturer is liable. For instance, if you bought a pair of shears and you accidentally chopped off one of your fingers with it, doesn’t mean that the design of the product is unreasonably dangerous. Determining whether a product is dangerous isn’t as simple or as straightforward as we all would like.
The Defect Caused Your Injury
It’s never enough to simply show that you were injured while using the defective product, you must show that the defect in the product is what actually caused your injuries. If for example you were charging your the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and it caught fire because of a sudden power surge and there was evidence of a power surge, the manufacturers will argue that it was the power surge and not the device’s design that caused the fire.
You Were Using the Product as Intended
In order for your Providence product liability claim to become successful, you have to show that you were using the product as it was intended. For instance, if you bought a pair of scissors meant for cutting cloth but instead you used it to try to cut a piece of metal and one of the blades snapped off and pierced your eye, you may not have a claim. The manufacturer didn’t design the scissors safe for cutting metal.
This, however, does not mean that the way you were using the scissors must conform to the manufacturer’s specifications. While the manufacturer designed it to cut cloth, that doesn’t mean you cannot use it to cut other similar light weight items. So if the blade snapped off while you were cutting a piece of paper and blinds you in one eye, you might have a valid claim.
Getting Help for a Providence Product Liability Claim
If you have been injured as the result of a defective or dangerous product, contact Kevin P Landry Law Offices and let one of our experienced Providence product liability lawyers review the facts of your case for free. Contact us by calling 401-751-0101 or visit our Providence offices today.
