Defective Product Claims: Your Rights Explained

If a defective or dangerous product injured you, you may have a product-liability claim against the manufacturer, distributor, or seller. These claims hold companies responsible for putting unsafe products into people's hands.

The three types of product defects

• Design defects — the product is dangerous as designed, even when made correctly.
• Manufacturing defects — an error in production made this unit unsafe.
• Warning defects (failure to warn) — the product lacked adequate instructions or warnings about a known risk.

What you generally need to show

That the product was defective, that the defect caused your injury, and that you were using the product in a reasonably foreseeable way. You typically don't have to prove the company was careless — many product claims are based on strict liability, meaning a defect is enough.

Common product claims

Defective auto parts, appliances, tools, children's products, and medical devices; dangerous drugs; and toxic-exposure cases. Many of these are litigated as mass torts.

Injured by a product? Check your eligibility or see active mass torts.