Medical Product Liability Attorneys in New Orleans

New Orleans Product Liability Attorneys

Creative ingenuity is a critical aspect of our economy. Visionary ideas become products, devices, machines, vehicles, and everyday technology that help make life easier for American citizens and strengthen our economy. However, poor quality and shoddy workmanship limit a product’s ability to improve a consumer’s quality of life—especially when those errors are purposefully overlooked.

As a consumer, you have a right to buy safe products. Unfortunately, businesses often overlook defects during their manufacturing process, exposing consumers to unnecessary risks for profitability. If you were harmed because a manufacturer breached that trust, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Here’s what you need to know about product liability in Louisiana and how the experienced New Orleans attorneys at Lamothe Law Firm can help you recover from product liability injuries.

We’re Backed by Success in Product Liability

At Lamothe Law Firm we have success in bringing claims for defective manufactured or designed products or equipment. Call us at 504-704-1414 if you have been injured due to a product or equipment which has caused you injury.

Understanding Product Liability in Louisiana

Product liability refers to the legal responsibility of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and other businesses to provide consumers with safe products. When a consumer is harmed because a product does not meet these standards, responsible parties can be held liable for injuries or damages stemming from that lapse.

In Louisiana, product liability cases are governed by the Louisiana Products Liability Act. Under this legislation, a manufacturer may be liable for a product that is “unreasonably dangerous” because of its:

Construction or composition.
Design.
Lack of adequate warning for potential hazards.
Lack of conformity to an expressed warranty.

Unsafe products can harm consumers, damage property, and cause significant financial hardship for those who purchased them. Louisiana laws ensure manufacturers produce safe products and hold them financially accountable for the consumers they injure when they don’t.

Examples of Product Liability Harm in Louisiana

In Louisiana, product liability cases can arise from many defective products. Here are some of the most common examples that our New Orleans attorneys handle:

Defective Medical Devices. Implants, hip replacements, pacemakers, heart monitors, insulin pumps, and other medical machines are critical to keeping consumers healthy. Sometimes, a defective or malfunctioning product can have dire consequences.
Faulty Pharmaceuticals. Prescription drugs can have dangerous, life-altering side effects that, when not adequately disclosed, can result in severe health problems for a consumer.
Automobile Defects. Defective airbags, faulty brake systems, malfunctioning “smart” panels, and flawed engine components often cause serious automobile accidents and life-threatening injuries.
Consumer Appliances. Faulty wiring in a refrigerator or overheating toaster might not seem like a big deal. Still, these minor defects can cause devastating fires, leading to significant property damage and burn injuries.
Construction Materials. Poorly manufactured building materials can result in leaks, flooding, eroding foundations, and other architectural flaws that can significantly impact a building’s structural integrity. This can lead to severe injury and, in some cases, even wrongful death.

Children’s Toys and Products. Defective car seats, toys with choking hazards, and strollers with faulty mechanisms are all common examples of child product risks. A defective product can easily injure, maim, or kill a child, and manufacturers must follow strict safety protocols.
Food and Beverages. Defective packaging and contaminated food products often lead to illness and injury for unaware consumers. This may also include unreasonably dangerous food, such as boiling coffee.
Industrial Equipment. Machinery, tools, equipment, and large-scale construction vehicles are vital to American industry. However, defects in these machines sometimes result in terrifying industrial accidents, often leading to severe injuries, such as fractures, burns, amputation, scalping, and death.
Household Products. Defective appliances aren’t the only things in your home that can malfunction. Cleaning products, pesticides, and herbicides are just some of the many products that can cause harm or injury, such as chemical burns or poisoning.

It’s important to hold manufacturers responsible for the products they sell. If you were injured by a product in Louisiana, you may be entitled to recoup some of your losses. An experienced New Orleans product liability attorney can help you determine how.

Who Is Responsible for Product Liability Damages?

As a consumer, you place trust in a business when you buy their product. You trust that it will work as advertised, and—aside from a list of reasonably expected side effects—it won’t cause you any harm. Manufacturers are responsible for upholding that trust and must provide their customers with safe products that work as expected.

Under Louisiana law, a “manufacturer” includes any business that sells, markets, designs, constructs, or passes off on the quality of a product. Hence, whether it’s the team in charge of designing a product, the people who distribute it, or the retailers in charge of marketing it, all phases of a product’s manufacturing are held to this standard of care. And if a break in that responsibility leads to injury, then a consumer can hold them liable for the harm ensuing from that breach of trust.

Proving Product Liability in Louisiana

If a product harmed you, you may be entitled to damages for your injuries. First, though, you have to prove that the manufacturer owed you a duty of care and that they breached that duty of care. To do this, you and your attorney must show that these five elements are met:

The product was defective.
The defect made the product unreasonably dangerous.
The defect caused the injury.
The defect caused actual harm or damage.
The product was used as intended.

Here’s a closer look at these areas and how you might be entitled to compensation for your injuries.

Element #1: The Product was Defective.

A defective product is something you buy that is broken, damaged, flawed, insufficient, or does not work the way it’s supposed to. In Louisiana, product defects are categorized into four main groups. These include:

Design Defects—issues resulting from flaws in the product’s original design that make it inherently unsafe.
Manufacturing Defects—problems during the production process that make the product unsafe, even if the design is sound.
Warning Defects—when a manufacturer fails to include adequate warnings or instructions about how to use the product properly, leading to unsafe handling and harm.
Warranty Defects—the product does not comply with an expressed warranty provided by the manufacturer.

Discovering that you spent money on a product that doesn’t work can be frustrating. However, while most of us have likely experienced this disappointment, not all product defects will trigger liability.

Element #2: The Defect Made the Product Unreasonably Dangerous

Products come off the factory line with defects all the time. However, many of these defects are benign and do not harm consumers.

In Louisiana, product liability claims are limited to defects that make a product “unreasonably dangerous” to consumers. This means the product presents a risk of harm beyond what an average person would expect.

For example, it’s probably reasonable to expect a newly purchased “self-propelling” lawn mower to have wheels that make it easier to push uphill. However, most people probably wouldn’t expect it to have top speeds to rival a race car, and a sudden, unexpected burst of speed in a machine meant to cut grass would arguably make it unreasonably dangerous to most consumers.

Element #3: The Defect Caused the Injury

Getting injured by a defective, unreasonably dangerous product is still not enough to establish liability by itself. An injured consumer also must show there is a direct link between the defect and their injuries.

To demonstrate this point, let’s return to our lawn mower example and say that our consumer was surprised—but ultimately uninjured—by the mower’s sudden burst of race car speed. However, halfway through trimming the lawn, the mower blade jammed on a rock. Instead of turning off the engine to address the issue, our consumer reached in to fix the jam while the motor was still running.

In this instance, the product’s defect (its unreasonably high speeds) did not directly cause the consumer’s injury (amputated fingers). Even though he was injured while using an “unreasonably dangerous” product, he’s not entitled to damages since there is no link between defect and injury.

Injuries such as whiplash or property damage, however, would be directly related, and would likely be enough to satisfy element three.

Element #4: The Defect Caused Actual Harm or Damages

The fourth element of product liability is showing actual harm or damages. “Actual” harm refers to the tangible injury or damages a consumer suffered due to a defective product. Actual harm must be real and measurable.

Here are some examples of actual harm, and how they relate to the case of the faulty lawn mower engine:

Physical Injuries—encompasses all types of physical harm directly related to the product’s defect. This might include whiplash from the sudden burst of mower speed, a sprained wrist or broken bone from the impact, or perhaps the damage done to another person that the mower hit when it lurched off course unexpectedly. Medical records, hospital bills, and witness testimony are all valuable tools to help prove actual injuries stemming from physical harm.
Property Damage–this harm includes damages to both personal and real property. For example, maybe the mower hit a fence, smashed into your house or car, or ruined your landscaping. Actual harm covers these property damages, and can be proved by providing the court with things like service receipts, repair bills, and replacement bids.
Economic Loss—these are the secondary losses you endure as a result of the harm or injury, and include things that impact your financial and economic status. For example, if your mower injury caused you to miss work, economic losses could compensate you for lost wages or any harm to your future employment. It might also reimburse you for transportation costs, if, say, the mower damage sent your car to the shop for a week, and you had no way to get to work. Costs associated with a person’s ongoing care, assistive devices, and home modifications might also be included, as long as they are a direct result of the product’s defect.

Sometimes, an injured consumer may also be entitled to damages for pain and suffering, including psychological and emotional harm, social isolation, and loss of companionship.

Emotional and psychological harms are arbitrary, which makes them more difficult to itemize. However, that doesn’t make them any less legitimate, and Louisiana law allows defendants to argue these concerns when calculating personal injury and product liability damages.

Element #5: The Product Was Being Used as Intended

The final element in proving product liability involves how the product was used. To trigger damages, the consumer must have sustained their injuries when using the product either:

As it was intended to be used by the manufacturer, or,
In a way that the manufacturer or seller could have reasonably foreseen.

It’s reasonable to assume someone buying a self-propelling lawn mower would use it to cut their grass faster. Hence, the fifth element is probably met if the injury stems from a defect while using the product correctly.

On the other hand, if you slice off your fingers trying to change a sharp, fast-moving blade while the motor is still running, you might be out of luck for a product liability claim; objectively speaking, reaching into a running motor doesn’t seem like a reasonably foreseeable use for the product.

What To Do If a Product Injured You

If you were injured by a product in Louisiana, take these crucial steps to protect your rights and build a strong product liability case.

Seek medical attention. If you are injured, the first thing to do is get help. Your health and safety are top priorities, and you should always seek proper medical attention for your injuries.
Preserve evidence. If possible, keep the defective product in its original condition. Do not alter or dispose of it; document the scene and your injuries with photographs.
Report the incident. Report the problem to the product’s manufacturer or seller. This can sometimes trigger a recall and will serve to notify them of the issue.
Document everything. Keep detailed records of all related expenses, including medical bills, repair costs, and lost wages.
Talk to an attorney. Seek legal advice from an experienced product liability attorney. They can help you understand your rights, evaluate your case, and guide you through this complex legal process.

Whether your child is harmed playing with a dangerous toy or a family member suffers a catastrophic injury because of a defective machinery component, you don’t need to navigate these legal technicalities alone. A knowledgeable, experienced attorney can help you fight for your interests and recover the compensation you deserve.

Why Hire Us

Experience

We have over 100 years of combined experience.

Track Record

We have recovered over 100 million dollars for our clients.

Reputation

We have a national reputation for excellence.

New Orleans Product Liability Attorneys: You Don’t Pay Unless We Recover

Product innovation and manufacturing are integral to our society and help set the American economy apart from others worldwide. Ideas turn into products that can improve lives and help solve everyday problems. However, these benefits are limited when manufacturers knowingly release products with defects.

If a malfunctioning product harmed you, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Contact Lamothe Law Firm today for a free consultation, and let our team of highly experienced attorneys defend your interests and help you hold the right person accountable.