Product Liability
In today’s world everyone is busy, busy, busy! The average consumer is always looking for a way to save time. We trust companies to provide us with quality products without cutting corners to save on production costs that maximize their profit. The friction between quality and safety on the one hand, and profits on the other, produced the legal concept of product liability – where the company producing a given product is 100% responsible for the quality of the product once it reaches the consumer, in the event of injury caused by an unsafe product.
In recent news, recalls of potentially unsafe products have been frequent. Glass was suspected to be in a major label baby food product. Can you imagine your infant ingesting glass that could cause major damage or death In news last month, a major cereal brand was suspected to have metal fragments within the box! An international food distributor voluntarily recalled a popular chocolate cocoa powder which is directly marketed to kids due to a salmonella risk. These three food product voluntary recalls have happened in the last two months. The majority of consumers are unsuspecting: they trust the products they buy. Consumers should be able to trust the product they buy and not have to worry about the horrors that end up in our food and other products. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC) provides up-to-date product recall information for consumers to access.
The companies issuing recalls know that the law of most states, including South Carolina, provide potent remedies to consumers injured by defective or dangerous products Food recalls are merely one example: consumers’ legal rights extend to recovery for injury caused by any defective or unreasonably dangerous product The act of selling and/or producing the product automatically triggers absolute legal responsibility for any injuries that result. Product liability is not like a car accident: the injured person does not have to prove fault or negligence. He or she only has to prove that the product was unreasonably dangerous, and strict liability for the manufacturer and/or seller is triggered.
If you or someone you know has been injured because of a contaminated food product or any dangerous or defective product, let the professionals at Traywick & Traywick help you recover.