McAllen Product Liability Lawyers

When you purchase a product, from medication to the car you drive or a household appliance, you expect it to work as it’s supposed to.

What you don’t expect is that it ends up hurting you or your loved ones, but that’s a reality many people in McAllen face, with hundreds of potentially hazardous products being released to the public every year.

A defective product can cause harm ranging from broken bones to permanent physical disfigurement, and you may be entitled to claim compensation to cover your medical bills, lost wages, ongoing rehabilitation needs, and more.

Can You Sue for Product Liability?

Under the Texas Product Liability Act, a strict product liability law, manufacturers are responsible for any harm their products cause — regardless of whether they were negligent, careless, or otherwise at fault. If a defective product has caused your illness or injury, you may be able to file a lawsuit to pursue compensation.

While you don’t have to satisfy the difficult burden of proof that a manufacturer was willfully negligent to successfully sue for product liability, you must prove several elements:

• The product was defective.
• The product defect was “unreasonably dangerous.”
• The defect caused an injury while you were using the product as intended, and you haven’t substantially altered the product in a way that could have caused the defect.

You may also be able to file a product liability claim if you have evidence that the manufacturer was negligent and that this led to the product being defective and causing your injuries or if they breached an implied or explicit warranty.

How Can a McAllen Product Liability Lawyer Help?

Our product liability lawyers in McAllen can investigate your situation, determine if a company is liable for your injuries, and gather the vital evidence you need to prove that the product was defective.

Our product liability attorneys can also help you receive the maximum payout from your claim, including compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and earning capacity, physical pain, and mental anguish.

What Are the Three Types of Product Defect?

A product can be defective in many ways, but defects typically fall into one of three categories: design defects, manufacturing defects, and warning defects.

Design Defects

Design defects happen when there is a fundamental flaw in the intended design of the product. This type of defect is hazardous because it typically affects the entire manufacturing run.

Some examples of design defects include:

• A metal fan guard with an unreasonably large gap that allows fingers to come in contact with the blades
• A large saw without implements to protect the user
• An imbalance in a car that makes it top-heavy and more prone to flipping over when a driver turns a corner.

Claiming product liability compensation for a design defect comes with an additional burden of proof. You must show that there was an alternative, safer design and that it was feasible for the manufacturer to design the product in this way.

Manufacturing Defects

Manufacturing defects are usually the result of an error in the creation or assembly process. If products are handmade or part of a small manufacturing run, there might only be a small number of items affected. However, in today’s world of mass production, a manufacturing defect could impact a large number of products.

Examples of manufacturing defects include:

• A problem during the packaging process of a sterile drug leading to contamination
• Using the wrong type of screws or bolts when assembling a product
• Incorrectly installing electric circuitry, leading to electrical shocks.

Warning Defects

The final category of defects is a failure to warn, and it applies when a product doesn’t come with appropriate warning labels and instructions.

Some products, such as medications, power tools, and machinery, are not inherently safe. Even if there isn’t a design defect in the mower you use to trim your lawn or the flat iron you use to straighten your hair, there is still a risk of harm. Because of this, the product should come with a warning label and instructions for use. If they do not, and you’re injured while using the product, you could be entitled to compensation.