What to Do if You Think You Have a Product Liability Case
You may have heard about the litigation against Johnson & Johnson.
In December of last year, several major news outlets reported that Johnson & Johnson had known for years that some of its talc-based baby powders may cause mesothelioma and have contained asbestos. That report caused the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Justice Department, to open investigation into the company and its products.
Prior to the story running, product liability lawsuits against the company had already been been voluminous.
In 2017, the New York Times reported that more than 4, 800 women had sued Johnson & Johnson, alleging its talc-based powder caused them to develop ovarian cancer. In 2018, the company was ordered to pay roughly $4.69 billion to claimants.
If you have been injured as a result of a faulty product and you have questions about whether you might be eligible to file a product liability case, you’ll want to speak with an attorney right away.
Types of cases
If you do move forward with a case, you’ll need show you were injured in one of the following three ways. The first would relate to being injured by a product that had a design flaw. An example of this would be buying an e-cigarette, having it stored in your pocket or purse, and sustaining burns after the product spontaneously caught fire.
Product manufacturers that have a good design, but sell products that encountered a mistake during production, may also be held liable.
A third type of case relates to whether the manufacturer sells a product (or device) that could be dangerous, and the manufacturer fails to warn consumers about potential dangers that may be associated with a product’s use.
If you have questions about whether your case falls into one of these categories, call our office today to schedule a free consultation.
You’ll need to file before time runs out
When it comes to filing a product liability lawsuit, you have a limited amount to do so. This is called the statute of limitations. What this means, is that if you don’t file your case in a set period of time, you won’t be allowed to pursue legal action.
As such, you’ll want to start the process much sooner than later.
When you call our office, we’ll schedule a time to provide you with a free consultation. We’ll assess your case and we’ll answer any questions you have about how much your case might be worth and how long litigation might take.
For more information, call our office today at 239-649-8050 to get started.
