Q: Is a manufacturer responsible for injuries caused by its product?
Santa Fe and Albuquerque New Mexico personal injury attorneys help victims of other people’s negligence recover compensation for their physical, psychological, and other injuries.
Personal injury lawsuits can arise from many different situations including car accidents, medical malpractice, and product liability. Often, burn injuries result in personal injury lawsuits based on defective products.
The doctrine of product liability law protects consumers in cases where manufacturers negligently place dangerous or defective products into the stream of commerce resulting in serious injury or death to consumers.
Recently, a product liability lawsuit seeking class-action status was commenced against a crockpot pressure cooker alleging that manufacturing defects were responsible for serious burn injuries to two users.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the pressure cookers have “a defective pressure release valve that inaccurately indicates that pressure built up during the cooking process has escaped and that the cooker is safe to open”. It further alleges that a defective gasket that should prevent users from opening the cooker while the contents are still under pressure failed to do so. As a result of the two alleged defects, users were unexpectedly scalded when the pressure cookers exploded– spewing the hot contents on the victims, according to the lawsuit.
What kind of burn injuries do people experience?
There are three types of common burn injuries:
- Thermal burns result from exposure to flame or heat, including scalding liquids as alleged in the pressure cooker case above.
- Electrical burns can be direct or indirect and occur when the body comes in contact with an electrical current.
- Chemical burns can damage the skin or, if the chemicals are airborne, they may damage the mouth, nasal cavities, or lungs.
Burn injuries are classified by degrees depending on the extent of the damage sustained. First- degree burns are the least serious while fourth-degree burns are the most severe. Victims may suffer multiple degrees of burn injuries in a single incident.
If you or a loved one has suffered a burn injury or any other personal injury as a result of someone else’s negligence, the Hunt Law Firm can help maximize the compensation to which you may be entitled. Contact us today for a free evaluation of your case.
From our offices in Santa Fe, we represent injury victims in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Raton, Roswell, Los Alamos, Las Vegas, and throughout the state of New Mexico.