Products Liability and Defective Design Lawyer

Our product liability lawyers represent individuals who have been harmed by defective medical devices, dangerous drugs, hazardous materials and other types of harmful products.

The term “product liability” generally refers to personal injury lawsuits by consumers against manufacturers of these harmful product, drugs, and devices. A “product” can be almost any type of manufactured object or device, but product liability lawsuits usually involve chemicals and commercial materials (e.g., asbestos), pharmaceuticals, medical devices and other health products, and motor vehicles.

Product manufacturers have a moral and legal responsibility to consumers to make and distribute products that are as safe as they reasonably can be. When a company fails to meet this standard and makes a product that is defective and dangerous, consumers have a legal right to sue the seller and manufacturer. Product liability or defective product cases are generally premised on one of three types of tort claims:

• negligence
• breach of warranty
• strict liability in tort.

(1) Negligence
Products cases sounding in negligence are simple: the failure to do what an ordinary, reasonable manufacturer should have done. Breach of warranty is a contract action. Strict liability in tort is a remedy designed to remedy the unfair results that occurred when injury victims were limited to negligence or breach of warranty claims for injuries caused by defective and unreasonably dangerous products.

(2) Strict Liability
Strict liability does not mean that you can automatically recover if you are injured by a product. You still must prove that the product was defective. But it does mean that you do not need to prove any particular act of negligence on the part of the seller. Instead, your lawyer must simply prove that the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous at the time it left the control of the seller. Accordingly, to recover compensatory damages under a strict liability theory in Maryland, the plaintiffs' lawyers must prove:

1. that the product was in a defective condition at the time it left the possession or control of the seller;
2. that it was unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer;
3. that the defect was a cause of the injuries;
4. that the product was expected to and did reach the consumer without substantial change in its condition.

Every year, thousands of people are killed by dangerous drugs, medical devices or defective products that should not have been placed in the market because they were not safe. If you or someone you love has been killed or injured using a drug or product, our product defect lawyers will investigate the product. 

Our lawyers determine whether it caused you injury as the result of a design defect, manufacturing defect, or marketing defect (usually involving failure to provide an adequate warning or some other improper labeling). In most cases, we have already done the necessary investigation because most product liability cases our lawyers have seen before.

The attorneys at Miller & Zois have years of experience handling product liability cases on both sides of the aisle. We take both individual and class action lawsuits. If you want to discuss your case with one of our attorneys, get information on a particular class action suit pending, call us at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free Internet consultation.

The common type of product liability cases in the U.S. are those involving defective and dangerous prescription drugs (and sometimes over-the-counter drugs). The pharmaceutical industry has a long history of rushing new drugs onto the market only to find out later they their drugs cause cancer or other adverse health conditions. 

When the hidden danger of the drug becomes apparently it invariably leads to a wave of product liability lawsuits – often called mass tort litigation. Examples of current mass torts involving dangerous drugs include:

• Elmiron
• Beovu Lawsuits
• Zantac Cancer
• Elmiron Vison Loss
• Belviq Cancer Recall
• Xeljans Blood Clots
• Gilead HIV Drug Lawsuits
• Injectafer

Our lawyers handle medical device and drug injury product liability cases.  But there is some product defect injury and wrongful death cases that do not fall neatly into those categories and they are some of the biggest mass torts in the country right now. They include these products: 

• Talcum Powder Lawsuits
• AFFF
• Combat Arms Ear Plugs (largest mass tort in U.S. history)
• Paraquat
• Roundup (settlements of $10 billion and counting)
• Juul Vaping
• Baby Food (autism - this litigation has not taken off)