Product Liability Lawyers in San Diego
When a consumer is injured by the proper use of a product, the manufacturer might be negligent. If this is the case, our product liability attorneys in San Diego may be able to hold the responsible party accountable. A seller or manufacturer can be sued for negligence or strict liability. Strict liability means that a consumer has the right to not be injured if he uses the product the way it was intended to be used and according to the manufacturer's instructions. Typically, manufacturers defend their products by claiming improper use, failure to heed warnings or follow instructions, or alterations by the purchaser. It is extremely important to seek professional counsel regarding the particulars of handling a product liability case.
A product is anything that is sold, except services and real estate. Machinery used in industry, in the office, on the farm, or in the home is frequently the cause of injury and product liability litigation. The same is true of food products sold in restaurants, groceries sold in supermarkets, and drug products sold over-the-counter or by prescription. Manufacturers and sellers of defective products, or products whose labels or instructions fail to warn you of the likely of hazards of improper use may be responsible for any injury caused by such products.
If you are injured by the intended use of a product, you should call the product liability lawyers in San Diego at Kerry Steigerwalt's Pacific Law Center immediately. Do not delay. There may be time constraints and waiting may adversely affect your chances of getting the help you deserve.
Some Product Liability Causes of Action
Sulzer Hip Implant
The Inter-Op TM acetabular shell is implanted into the upper part of the hip, forming a socket into which the rest of the artificial joint fits. The socket portion of the implant was determined to have an oily residue that was used in the manufacturing process. This residue may cause a reaction in your body that prevents your bone from bonding with the hip implant. Loosening of the shell may occur because of this reaction, and you should consult with your doctor and one of our product liability attorneys in San Diego in the event that this happens.
List of Symptoms
According to Sulzer, the following are indications of problems with the Inter-Op TM shell implant:
Up to six weeks after hip replacement surgery:
- The patient may be progressing well or reporting groin or anterior trochanteric pain;
- The patient may have increased thigh pain;
- The patient has significant startup pain with ambulation (walking) or rising from a seated position, may have buttock pain; and
- An x-ray may show possible component migration.
Six weeks to three months after hip replacement surgery:
- The patient may experience significant pain with weight bearing, and may require a cane or crutch; and
- The patient may be unable to exert resistance in a straight raised leg test and a side-lying abduction test.
On December 8, 2000, Sulzer Orthopedics recalled its Inter-Op acetabular shell for hip implants sold primarily in the United States after October of 1999, with a small number of lots sold after July of 1997. Approximately 17,500 patients were affected by the recall.
The hip implant part is the acetabular "shell" that is implanted into the upper part of the hip called the acetabulum. Normally, the bone would form an integrated bond with the shell; however, it appears that bone does not always bond with shells when the lubricant residue is present. If you have noticed loosening of the shell, contact our product liability lawyers in San Diego for a case consultation today.
According to company tests, a number of patients who received the shell during their total hip replacement have experienced loosening of the shell. Sulzer states that there are specific hip symptoms associated with this problem.
If you have pain in your inner thigh or groin pain when arising from a seated position or pain with standing and weight bearing, you may want to consult with your doctor.
If you believe you have a potential product liability legal claim due to a defective hip implant, contact our office. Calling our product liability attorneys in San Diego will protect your legal rights and keep the claim from being barred by the statute of limitations.
The Sulzer Inter-Op TM acetabluar shells affected by the recall are as follows:
Catalogue Numbers Product Lot Numbers Beginning # Lot Numbers
Ending #
4360-00-039/065 Hemispherical Shells 1307848 1465372
4361-00-039/071 Rim Flare Shells 1398234 1465247
4362-00-043/081 Revision Shells 1397531 1465242
4363-00-053/081 Protrusio Shells 1403576 1453540
Tire Tread Separation Case
Passenger and light truck tire tread separations are an unfortunate by-product of steel-belted radial tire technology. Due to the difficulty in obtaining adhesion of steel to rubber there is a potential for tread separation of all steel-belted radial tires. This is true especially at high speeds in hot weather. Industry records verify that tread belt separations are the most common mode of failure of steel belted radial tires. They result from both design and manufacturing defects, and our experienced product liability lawyers in San Diego can help you hold the negligent party responsible.
The results of tread separation can be catastrophic. Tread belt separations frequently cause tire blowouts. Even when the tire does not lose pressure the driver loses control when the tread and belt separate from the carcass of the tire. These tread belt separations often cause auto accidents and rollovers resulting in serious injuries and fatalities that could constitute a product liability claim. This problem is exacerbated by high-center-of-gravity vehicle designs such as employed in popular sport utility vehicles. The tire design problem can be overcome by use of a nylon overlay design modification known as "safety belts", widely used in tires manufactured for the European market as well as many top line American tires. Manufacturing defects and product liability lawsuits can be substantially reduced by appropriate adhesion, proper manufacturing practices, and adequate quality control measures.
When inspecting a separated tire for a product liability case, you should look closely at the separation interface to determine whether there is any rusty wire, bare wire or brassy wire exposed. Corroded wire is usually evidence of moisture contamination during manufacturing. Bare wire is also an indication of a manufacturing adhesion defect. Brassy wire is a strong indication of no adhesion. High-resolution photographs should be taken of any exposed wire surfaces as quickly after the accident as possible.
Plant practices which contribute to product liability and tread belt separation include the use of over-aged "dry" stock, use of petroleum solvent on tire components prior to vulcanization, moisture or foreign matter cured into the tire, improper repairs, inadequate final inspection and an emphasis on production or quantity over quality and safety. Many plants run on twelve-hour shifts with the tire builders working on a quota incentive system. If you or a loved one has suffered harm as a result of a defective good, our product liability attorneys in San Diego can help you determine if you have a valid claim.
Bead Failures
Tire bead failure explosions usually occur during the tire mounting process as a result of a latent design defect present in passenger and light truck tires. Most light truck and passenger tires employ a .037 inch weldless bead configuration, which is subject to failure at pressures as low as 38 pounds per square inch. Low-pressure explosions most often occur if the splice of the bead wire becomes impeded during inflation of the tire. This is commonly referred to as bead hang-up and has been documented in the patent literature, industry documents, and product liability litigation since the mid-1950s.
When a bead failure explosion occurs in close proximity to a flat surface, the resulting trajectory of the tire and rim can cause devastating injuries including amputation of limbs, crushing of facial bones, and brain damage. The bead design hazard was substantially increased by the introduction of the unnecessary 16.5 inch rim size, which will allow the mounting of a 16 inch tire but will always result in bead hang-up and potential low-pressure explosions. Victims of tire bead failure explosions should hire our product liability lawyers in San Diego for legal assistance with their claim today!
Multi-Piece Wheel Explosions
Multi-piece wheels (rims) often referred to as "widow-makers" have caused countless product liability injuries and deaths to tire mounters since their introduction. There are various multi-piece wheel configurations, all of which are potentially dangerous. In almost all applications, the multi-piece wheel can and should be replaced by a single-piece configuration wheel, which has been available since the mid 1960s and eliminates this hazard. OSHA has addressed the problem with guidelines that can somewhat reduce the hazard. However, one can still be injured or killed even if the OSHA guidelines are followed. For example, OSHA guidelines provide that multi-piece wheels should be inflated in safety cages. Tragically, accidents often occur after the tire and wheels are removed from the safety cage for mounting on the vehicle.
Zipper Failures
Sidewall zipper failures typically occur during the inflation process. There is almost no way to determine whether a tire is subject to zipper failure. The sidewall of a tire catastrophically fails, often injuring the inflator and/or bystanders. These failures are referred to as "zipper failures" because of the appearance of the sidewall after the explosion. Despite widespread documentation of the problem and numerous accidents and injuries, the only action taken by the tire industry to date has been to issue vague warnings of the hazard. Our product liability attorneys in San Diego will fight for consumer rights and help you hold the manufacturer responsible for its errors.
Defective Air Bags
Although air bags are supposed to protect a vehicle's occupants in a crash, they often cause injuries that would not have occurred if the car did not have an air bag. The primary problems with air bags, as we have seen in product liability litigation, are the following:
- Over-aggressive air bags. Some air bags deploy too fast and too far into the occupant's space. Some bags deploy at speeds in excess of 200 mph and, since they are designed to restrain an average sized male, such bags can have devastating effects on small women and children. This defect can cause severe head injuries, brain damage, blindness, and even decapitation.
- Oversized or untethered air bags. Some air bags, because they are too big or do not have tethers, come too close to occupants during the inflation process. Tethers are simple cloth straps sewn into the fabric on the inside of the bag to limit the rearward movement of the air bag during inflation. Despite the industry's knowledge of the dangers of untethered bags (most driver's side bags have been tethered for years), many passenger side bags do not have tethers.
- Air bag deployment threshold too low. Many people have been injured by air bags in low speed accidents in which they would not have been hurt at all if the air bag had not hit them. Since air bags are not needed in low speed impacts to prevent injury, they should be designed to deploy only at higher speeds. A simple alternative is to set the deployment threshold (the speed at which an air bag will deploy) 18-25 mph, instead of at 8-15 mph, as many systems are now designed. Another alternative is to make air bags deploy less aggressively in low-speed collisions and more aggressively in high-speed collisions -- the technology to do so has been available since the 1970s. Also, some companies make cars with so-called "smart air bags", which deploy at higher crash speeds if the occupant is belted and at lower crash speeds if the occupant is unbelted. This prevents belted passengers in low speed accidents from being injured by an air bag that isn't even needed in the accident.
- Front-mounted horizontally deploying air bags. This design causes the air bag to deploy directly toward the passenger during inflation before it has formed its fully inflated shape - the "giant pillow" shown in the television commercials. In truth, in the early stages of deployment, an air bag is more like a missile than a pillow. A safer design used by some car manufacturers is to mount the air bag on the top part of the dashboard as close to the windshield as possible and to direct it upward toward the windshield at the beginning of the inflation process. Ford, GM and Chrysler discussed such air bags (called top-mounted vertically deploying air bags) back in the early 1990s, yet continued to put rear facing horizontally deploying bags into its cars. Particularly alarming is the presence of these defective bags in many minivans, which are intentionally marketed to families with young children. Worse still, the Chrysler minivan television ads show young children sitting in the right front passenger seat directly in the line of fire for these defective bags.
- Inadequate warnings. The government only requires the sun-visor warning label. Car companies could put more warning labels in cars (on the dashboard, for example) to explain to people that a deploying air bag can be very dangerous, especially to children and women that are small in stature.
- System malfunctions. There have been numerous reported instances of product liability (and recalls) of air bags because of unnecessary deployment (on ignition, upon striking a pothole or curb). These are typically caused by a problem in the electrical system or sensors.
- Failure to deploy. Although air bags are not designed to deploy in every type of collision (such as rollovers and side impacts), they should deploy in accidents where the impact is frontal and the speed at impact is moderate (about 20-25 mph). The failure of the air bag to deploy can be caused by defective sensors or improper placement of the sensors.
- Lack of an air bag. Air bags are not a new idea. Air bags were first patented in 1920 and the major car companies have been designing and testing them since the 1950s! Ford and GM were selling cars with air bags as early as 1972. Yet, many cars that came off the assembly line in 1997 still did not have air bags.
Thousands of automobiles with defective air bag systems are on the road in the United States today. When those cars are involved in routine collisions, people will be unnecessarily injured.
If you have been seriously injured because of a defective airbag, please contact our product liability lawyers in San Diego today.
