Many people may believe that if a person gets injured on the job by a machine, they are limited to claims for worker’s compensation benefits. However, this may not be the case. In some circumstances, product liability lawsuits can also be brought by experienced personal injury attorneys against the manufacturer or someone else in the stream of commerce.
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Johnson & Johnson recently said that it has received a subpoena by the Justice Department in connection with its sales of bile duct stents. This subpoena was part of an investigation about potential product liability of the stents. The Justice Department is investigating whether manufacturers had been promoting the devices for unapproved uses, among them the repair of weakened blood vessels. The bile duct stents are plastic or metal tubes intended to treat obstructions to the liver.
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TASER International, Inc., an advanced electronic control devices company, announced recently that the United States District Court issued an order granting plaintiff’s motion to voluntary dismiss TASER International with prejudice from the product liability lawsuit.
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Chris Clear, 19 years old, was helping to move a roto-tiller when he felt what he thought was a rock hit him in the face. In actuality, a metal pin from the roto-tiller had shot into his brain. After the accident, his nose began bleeding profusely, which is when he went to a local hospital, and they x-rayed his neck, where the pain had shifted. The hospital sent him home after the x-ray, incorrectly diagnosing him with only a cervical sprain. The second trip to the hospital revealed the true problem: the large metal pin had lodged in Chris’ brain. Apparently the blunt end of the pin went in through his nose, past his eye socket, and got lodged in the back of his brain. Chris’ prognosis was grim: death, paralysis, mobility and speech impairments were all distinct possibilities. Chris was fortunate, however, the pin missed several major arteries and after a 9 hour surgery the pin was removed and he is almost like new. The only left over symptoms: if he touches his scar his front teeth go numb and his taste in food has changed, but that appears to be it. While Chris is lucky to be alive and well, he did not have insurance coverage at the time, which means the expensive surgery costs will be great to bear. To read more click here.
More than 800,000 owners of Ford Explorer SUVs won a products liability class action lawsuit against the manufacturer. The owners sued Ford Motors because their trucks lost valued because of the perceived risk of truck rollover accidents. Some Ford trucks rolled over during accidents or normal driving leading to serious injury, lifetime paralysis, and wrongful death. One victim who was paralyzed permanently when her truck rolled over received an $82 million verdict in a suit against the truck manufacturer.
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In a products liability scare, a whistle-blower recently told Congress that a cozy relationship between Southwest Airlines officials and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put passengers in danger of a catastrophe. One supervisor at FAA repeatedly rebuffed his reports of inspection requirement violations. Allowing aircrafts to fly passengers in a known unsafe condition puts the lives of the flying public in jeopardy.
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Valucraft made a serious mistake in manufacturing their jumper cables. Valucraft BC10, BC8 Booster Cables Certain Valucraft 8 and 10 gauge booster cables imported and sold by Autozone as aftermarket equipment used to jump start automobiles and other motorized equipment including motorcycles, ATVs, boats, and lawn equipment having discharged batteries. These battery cables are either stamped 8GA or 10GA. Some of these cables were assembled incorrectly. On one of the cables, the red clamp was attached to the negative side and the black clamp was attached to the positive side. This may result in reverse polarity. Reverse polarity has the potential to cause damage to the vehicle battery as well as property damage and personal injury. A vehicle's battery may burst under these conditions.
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A machine used in 15 hospitals across the country that holds medications used in the operating room has been recalled due to a life threatening defect. The Pyxis anesthesia system 3500 has been found to lock up while rebooting, preventing doctors from accessing critical medications. No product liability lawsuits have been filed.
A 55-year-old employee involved in a trucking accident while working for a trucking company that transports asphalt from plants such as defendant Koch Materials Company was recently awarded $2,500,000 in a recent personal injury lawsuit. The plaintiff suffered from a fractured acetabulum, basilar skull fracture, fracture of the left frontal bone and left medial orbital and fracture of the left sinus, and was rendered deaf after falling off of his truck while loading asphalt on defendant’s property. The plaintiff claimed that the fall protection was inadequate and non-compliant with OSHA requirements, and that the defendant had an obligation to provide fall protection. Plaintiff also alleged that the defendant was negligent for its failure to follow its own standard loading operating procedure, and was lacking other standard operating procedures. The defendant claimed that it was actually a matter of product liability and that the truck was defective and unsafe. The defendant also alleged that any claims were barred under Pennsylvania’s Workers Compensation Act and questioned the extent and severity of the plaintiff’s injuries. Regardless of these allegations, the parties reached the $2,500,000 settlement after a full day of mediation.
The Illinois 1st District Appellate Court vacated a direct verdict for GM and remanded the matter for trial, finding that the plaintiff did present enough evidence of a design defect to warrant product liability. In 1999, the plaintiff sustained a severe burn injury after the rear seat of his van exploded into flames after trying to start the van for 10 minutes. At trial in the Cook County Circuit Court, the plaintiff alleged that the design defect rendered the van a fire hazard, but the jury found in favor of GM. The appeals court, however, ruled that GM should have tested the van in order to detect the defect and prevent automobile accidents, and the fact that the victim repeatedly tried to start the van was an act an ordinary consumer would perform without “expect[ing] the interior of the van to ignite.” The plaintiff’s expert presented sufficient evidence to support that specific industry standards of care were not met for the particular defects he identified.
A personal injury lawsuit is being filed by a factory worker in Texas. The worker was severely injured when he was pulled into a machine that malfunctioned. The worker suffered permanent physical injuries to his head, arms, and back. The traumatic incident also caused severe pain, and mental anguish.
The plaintiff claims that the factory owners were guilty of gross negligence. The owners had knowledge of the machine malfunctioning on several previous occasions, yet did nothing to fix the problem. In addition to any case settlements, the plaintiff may also be entitled to workers' compensation.
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