Ohio Product Liability Lawyer

Columbus Defective Product Attorney Explains What To Do After an Injury

Video Transcript:

Michelle Martin: 

When a defective product is placed into the stream of commerce or placed for sale, the manufacturer can be responsible, the retailer can be responsible, the inspector can be responsible, and different licensing agencies can also be held responsible.

Molly Hendrickson: 

What should we know about defective household appliances? We're gonna talk to attorney Michelle Martin about that on today's Ask The Lawyer. Michelle, thanks for joining us.

Michelle Martin: 

Thank you Molly for the opportunity to speak.

Molly Hendrickson: 

First off, what are some examples of household items that when defective can cause serious injury or death that you have seen in your practice?

Michelle Martin: 

Well, it can be really scary honestly. Lots of different things. For example, some baby cribs, sometimes they can come apart in the middle of the night, some other household furniture items, including some furniture that can have a risk of tipping over if not anchored appropriately. Some skin care and hair care products, such as hair relaxers that can cause uterine cancer, things like that.

Molly Hendrickson: 

When a product is defective and somebody is hurt, who's responsible?

Michelle Martin: 

When a defective product is placed into the stream of commerce or placed for sale, the manufacturer can be responsible, the retailer can be responsible, the inspector can be responsible, and different licensing agencies can also be held responsible Molly.

Molly Hendrickson: 

And what about cases of user error?

Michelle Martin: 

User error is also gonna be taken into consideration. It's gonna be taken into consideration in so far as contributory negligence, for example, a person can be considered... Or I'm sorry, user error can be considered when you're thinking about contributory negligence and you're thinking about the way in which a product can be mishandled, and you wanna think about whether or not the product is even used correctly to begin with, and whether or not the product is used for its intended purpose.

Molly Hendrickson: 

So when a household product is shown to be defective, does the manufacturer ever issue a recall?

Michelle Martin: 

All the time. The manufacturer issues a recall, so think about the times that you'll receive a recall in the mail directly from the manufacturer or from those administrative agencies such as OSHA.

Molly Hendrickson: 

And does a product have to be recalled in order for somebody to have a claim?

Michelle Martin: 

No, a product does not have to be recalled in order for someone to have a claim. If you find that you have a claim or you find that a product is defective, you're going to want to reach out to an attorney to make sure that you are exercising your rights and that you're making sure that you are checking up on any claims that you may have. If in fact, in that process, you find that there has been a recall, it doesn't have any effect on whether or not your claim is valid, there just may have also been a recall on the product itself.

Molly Hendrickson: 

So if somebody has a product that caused an injury, what are the next steps? What should they do?

Michelle Martin: 

Well, first and foremost, if you have an injury, you're gonna wanna seek medical attention. So if it's significant enough or serious enough, you're gonna wanna seek immediate medical attention by reaching out to an emergency room, however, if you believe that you... It's not an emergency situation then you're gonna wanna reach out to your primary care physician, however, immediately following that medical attention that you seek, you're gonna wanna reach out to a knowledgeable attorney to see what rights that you may have.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Michelle, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today.

Michelle Martin: 

Thank you, Molly, for giving me the opportunity and the platform to speak.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Nice to see you. That's gonna do it for this episode of Ask the lawyer. My guest has been Michelle Martin. If you wanna ask her about your situation, call the number on the screen. Thanks for watching, I'm Molly Hendrickson for Ask the Lawyers.

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