There may be no doubt that you got injured from a defective product. But there may still be the question of whether this came about through any fault of your own. That is, was there a recall issued for the defective product? Continue reading to learn how product recalls might influence personal injury claims and how one of the experienced Panama City product liability attorneys at Manuel & Thompson, PA can work to determine whether you have a valid legal case.
How might product recalls impact personal injury claims?
Above all else, you must understand how a product recall works. Well, a defect within a product may first be noticed by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States Product Safety Commission (CPSC), or otherwise another government agency. Such an agency may soon after bring it to the attention of the product’s manufacturer.
From here, the manufacturer may issue a recall to all distributors and sellers of the product, along with its known purchasers. Then, the distributors may stop sending the product to retailers, while the retailers may stop stocking the product on their shelves. All the while, known purchasers may be informed on how to repair or replace the product.
This is all to say that sufficient efforts toward distributing a product recall may negatively impact a personal injury claim. This is because the defendant may go on to argue that the plaintiff knew, or should have reasonably known, that the product contained defects.
How do I know if I have a valid claim on my hands?
Rest assured, a product recall does not automatically relieve a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer from fault. Meaning, you may still have a chance at a valid product liability claim. Without further ado, to strengthen the case on your hands, you may want to point to the following arguments:
- You may want to argue that you never directly received a recall notice, even though documentation proves that you were a known purchaser of the product.
- You may want to argue that the recall notice did not adequately explain the dangers posed by the product, along with failing to inform on how to repair or replace it.
- You may want to argue that the recall should have been more widely spread (i.e., published online, placed in trade journals, shared with the general media, etc).
However, this may still leave uncertainty as to which party is exactly to blame; and therefore which party you should direct your claim towards. This is where seasoned legal representation may become beneficial. With the intricate legal proceedings ahead, you should not have to go through this alone. Rather, you should have one of the skilled Panama City personal injury attorneys from Manuel & Thompson, PA stand by your side throughout. Contact our firm today.
