Houston Product Liability Lawyer

Flawed Product Liability Explained by Houston Products Liability Attorney Michael Grossman

Americans have a reputation for trying to keep up with the Jones’. It’s a catch phrase that means consumers spend money they don’t have to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t know or don’t like.

And when consumers purchase products most of the time they do so based on the radio, television or Internet advertisements that promote the product as being the best thing since sliced bread. Sales tactics have gotten so overbearing that a 30-minute television program has more commercials than program content. Late night infomercials and stations such as the Home Shopping Network devote their entire content to endorsing products and services to sell.

It’s not hard to see how American consumers spend billions of dollars every year on items from exercise equipment and electronics to cars and cosmetics. And when consumers spend that much money on items they expect those items to perform as advertised. If you or someone in your family has been harmed by a product that you purchased you might qualify to file a product liability civil claim. Call the Houston product liability lawyer Michael Grossman to find out your legal options when it comes to filing a personal injury lawsuit of this manner. We can help you to fill in all the blanks of your case such as where the product was produced and who can be held liable. Call 1-855-392-0000 for a free consultation today.

When consumers spend their hard earned money on products and services they expect that the product works the way it’s supposed to work– and rightfully so . That’s especially the case with products that we ingest into our bodies. Federal guidelines mandate that corporations that manufacture or sell or distribute products in the United States have to maintain minimal standards to ensure their products cure what companies assert they can cure in the commercials and that the products don’t cause harm to person who used them so long as the products are used as they were meant to be used.

An NFL player recently sued a supplement company and won an award of more than $5 million. In June St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora won his product liability lawsuit against Sports With Alternatives to Steroids (SWATS) because Vebora said the supplements he bought from the company caused him to test positive for IGF-1 or methyltestosterone in 2009. IGF-1 (which stands for insulin-like growth factor) or methyltestosterone is a steroid by-product which apparently shows up in drug tests as a performance enhancing drug. The NFL and most other major league sports have banned performance enhancing drugs including steroids and its by-products.

It’s a well known fact that professional athletes are in optimal physical shape. And they try to get the edge on their competition by going the extra mile in their training, their diets and their supplements. Although it was not illegal for SWATS to include methyltestosterone, also known as IGF-1 in its products, if the company erroneously claimed their products could pass a drug test without detection, then an athlete takes their products and can’t pass the drug test, that athlete has cause to sue the manufacturer, distributor and the retailer who sold it because he could lose his livelihood due to the company’s error.

With so many new products being developed and sold every year, there are bound to be product failures. But the thing is that a majority of consumers don’t conclude that until after they have paid for the purchase. Remember the pet rock? And what about jack rocks? The game was supposed to help youth increase gross motor skills. But when youth liked swallowing the star-shaped metal objects more than they liked playing with them, the corporation which sold jack rocks had to forced to take them off the market. Toys are one of the categories of products that are the most dangerous. One reason is because children sometimes are too young to know how to use them properly. Another reason is because the product never should have been created and sold for children in the first place. Now toys and video games come with information about the suggested age range of the user. It helps parents to know if their child is the right age for the game and if the toy is too violent or sexually explicit to be used by a child.

If you are a parent or you own a daycare or you are a shop-a-holic, there are Internet sites you can check to keep up with recalls on everything from toys to tires to turnips. Of the thousands of products made available for sell annually, a significant percentage of them are recalled. A product recall means there is a problem with a certain production year or a certain production batch number due to a design flaw or harm done to someone who used it. If the product can be redeveloped and put back on the market companies will try to do so unless the negative publicity surrounding the recall is so bad the company can’t overcome it. But in a society where people love to spend money most of the time all it takes for a company to get forgiveness and regain their financial footing is to wait a few months and roll out the new and improved product with free samples or at a discount. In rare cases the product might be taken off the shelves forever. The website recall.gov has a listing of items in all the different categories which have been removed from circulation and should no longer be for sale. Because there is so much money to be made, company executives have dollar signs in their eyes and spend less resources on testing their products for safety than they should. But they get away with it because product liability minimal standards are so low. So they blame their negligence on federal regulations. So don’t feel bad about holding them responsible for their products and false advertising.

Companies have to continue to upgrade their products and outdo the competition. One of the ways companies try to stay relevant is the create products that make the lives of consumers easy. That was the premise behind the cribs with the collapsible side gate. The side gate was supposed to lock in place when it was raised to keep protect infants inside cribs. But anybody who has a baby or is familiar with baby behavior knows that they like to grab, pull and shake things, especially the sides of their cribs. It turns out that the locked crib gate caused babies to be injured when it dropped unexpectedly. Some of the babies were admitted to hospitals with injuries. And sadly some other infants died when they were caught in the collapsible gate and suffocated. Soon after that the manufacturer recalled the cribs and took them out of circulation. If your child or a child in your care has been injured by a defective product, call the Houston product liability lawyer Michael Grossman today. We can help you to find out all the information about the product and let you know if it’s better to file a class action lawsuit instead of an individual claim. Call 1-855-392-0000 for a free consultation today.

When it comes to faulty products, youth are not the only consumers who need protection. Kids and adults alike eat peanut butter. In spring 2011 Skippy Peanut butter regular and the reduced fat version were recalled. Manufacturers said a batch of the product might have been contaminated with Salmonella poisoning. Salmonella, an infection causing bacteria, has been found in eggs, beef and other products. Usually the bacteria can be killed during the cooking process. That’s why experts suggest that food is cooked to a certain temperature to help kill lingering bacteria from pesticides and unclean conditions in processing plants.

In Summer 2011 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put out a notice concerning chicken products in the United States. According to the federal agency, some chicken food contains minimal quantities of arsenic in it. Arsenic is a poison. It is used to kill weeds and rodents. The Food and Drug Administration claimed the quantity of arsenic transferred to chicken through the food it eats is too little for chicken eaters to be concerned about. But chicken eaters with weak immune systems should be concerned. And if arsenic is as hazardous as the evidence shows the smallest amount could be dangerous so don’t take the word of FDA bureaucrats. Contact Houston product defect attorneys at Grossman Law Offices. Michael Grossman has spent more than twenty (20) years protecting the rights of personal injury victims and he has won hundreds of personal injury cases just like yours. We can help you to fill in all the blanks of your case where it was produced and who can be held liable. Call 1-855-392-0000 for a free consultation today.

If we could trust the FDA and the thousands of manufacturing companies, there would be less product recalls and less people who die or are injured from being harmed by defective products. If we could trust the FDA and manufacturing companies there would be no need for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to exist. But it does exist because there is a need for it. Hazardous toys, dangerous chemicals, tainted pharmaceuticals and unfit food flood the marketplace. There are new products that come out for each new season including Christmas, Halloween and summer. Companies know consumers will buy almost anything if they promote it right and wrap it in a pretty bow. In addition to being a more selective consumer, if you, a relative or someone you know suffered injuries or sickness because of a product defect it’s your right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the manufacturer. And the store you bought the product from also might be held liable as a co-defendant. Even if the product was made in a faraway country, their American partners that distribute the products are liable to you and other consumers to bring safe products for public consumption. Call the Houston product defect attorneys at Grossman Law Offices. Michael Grossman has spent more than twenty (20) years protecting the legal rights of personal injury victims and he has won hundreds of cases just like yours. We can help you to fill in all the blanks of your case where it was produced and who can be held liable. Call 1-855-392-0000 for a free consultation today.

Lots of consumers buy furniture, clothes and electronics from thrift stores. So there is a good chance that some defective products have found their way into your home during your shopping trip from the Goodwill or Salvation Army or consignment shop.

Texas state law says second hand stores cannot be held liable if someone buys a defective item or recalled item from them. So if you or someone you know has been injured or suffered harm from a defective product that you purchased at a thrift store, you might be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to collect minimal damages. Contact the Houston product liability lawyers at Grossman Law Offices. Michael Grossman has spent more than twenty (20) years protecting the rights of personal injury victims and he has won cases just like yours. We can help you to fill in all the blanks of your case. Call 1-855-392-0000 for a free consultation today.

There are two categories of product liability: Negligence and strict liability. Simple negligence means the product’s design is harmful, even it if is used as it is intended. Darts are another example of a negligent product. These sharp edges of a dart are meant to be thrown at a dart board. But all it takes is for someone to walk into the path of a dart and it could cause serious injury.

If a company is defending itself against a Strict Liability claim, it’s an indication that the product never should have been put on the market in the first place. And someone probably has gotten injured using it the way it was intended. The sad part is most products are not recalled or removed from the market until at least hundreds of consumers have either been hurt or killed and have complained to the right people.

Every year fireworks are to blame for wounding people during Fourth of July celebrations. These explosives are responsible for burns, lacerations and some people, unfortunately, accidentally have had fingers blown off. Fireworks are illegal in some states. They are legal to sell in Texas.

In the summer of 2011 a manufactured drug designed to decrease cholesterol levels, was found by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to cause muscle damage in some patients. The name of the drug is Simvastatin, and that included consumers who took the drug as prescribed by their doctors. The pharmaceutical company was allowed to continue to market the product even though the Food and Drug Administration gave notice about taking high doses of the drug. It’s the same as the Hydroxycut scare which connected the diet pills to heart palpitations in dieters who used the product, the company was allowed to keep selling the product by the FDA. The FDA won’t pull Simvastatin or Hydroxycut from the shelves until more people are seriously hurt or maybe killed. Why? Both products are money makers. Simvastatin was prescribed to more than two million patients last year in the United States alone. It was the second most prescribed pharmaceutical drug in America last year. And that doesn’t include generic brand names under which the drug was sold.

It’s clear that most companies are less worried about the health of consumers and more worried about their profits. So don’t try to take on big pharmacy alone. If you have been injured by a defective product you can sue the product maker. And the store where you purchased the product also could be held liable as a co-defendant. Even if the product was produced in another country other than the United States where a number of products are made, there are U.S. distributors that also can be held at fault if you and others have been hurt by their products they sell. Call the Houston Texas product liability attorneys at Grossman Law Offices. Michael Grossman has spent more than twenty (20) years protecting the rights of personal injury victims and he has won hundreds of cases just like yours. We can help you to fill in all the blanks of your case where it was produced and who can be held liable. Call 1-855-392-0000 for a free consultation today.