Serving Chicago, Surrounding Suburbs and all Surrounding Counties of DuPage, Will & Lake.
When you purchase a product, you have the right to a number of expectations. One of those is the expectation that the product will work as advertised and do what you purchased it to do.
If used properly, the product shouldn't hurt you. Unfortunately, too many companies betray this responsibility and create products that hurt innocent customers.
Our product liability lawyers at the Sklare Law Group can help you pursue compensation for the personal injury you suffered as a result of a defective product. Large companies should not be able to get away with shoddy design and manufacturing practices.
If you've been hurt by a defective product in the Chicago, Illinois area, please call our attorneys today at (312) 759-1616 for a free consultation.
Dangerous Products
Product liability cases tend to fall into three broad categories: defective design, defective manufacturing and failure to properly warn or label.
These labels are fairly easy to understand. A poorly designed product is fundamentally flawed, as the basic design was inadequate and posed a danger to customers. A poorly manufactured product might have a sound design, but cheap manufacturing processes resulted in a dangerous product.
And a “failure to warn or label” case involves products that are designed and manufactured properly, but, by their danger, can pose a danger to users. This could be acceptable, depending on the nature of the danger, but companies are obligated to provide clear warning of this danger on the product's packaging.
Defective Vehicle Parts
A modern automobile is a remarkably complex machine. It has thousands of moving parts, and everything in the car must interact perfectly. If something goes wrong, the car might fail to work properly.
Of course, the most frightening thing to consider is a malfunction that occurs when your car is going 75 MPH on a local highway packed with traffic. There's no margin for error here, and a sudden mechanical issue can prove lethal.
Common defective vehicle parts include:
- Tires
- Brakes
- Airbags
- Engine parts
- Electronic equipment
- Windshields
- Ignition switches
The manufacturers and installers of these parts are expected to adhere to standards of safety and durability. When these parties fail to live up to their responsibilities, victims suffer the consequence, and there is serious legal liability.
Our experienced lawyers know how to investigate your case, find the true cause of your injuries and pursue compensation from the responsible parties. Often times, an auto accident which seems to be caused by human error is, in fact, the result of a defective part.
Defective Prescription Drugs
Prescription drugs have become a multi-billion dollar industry. That number explodes when you consider over-the-counter medications you can buy at Target or your local grocery store.
It's the rare person who doesn't take some kind of medication, either prescribed by a doctor or purchased over the counter. And there's no doubt that modern America has the ability to treat a huge number of conditions through simple medication.
But, when drug manufacturing is exposed to the profit motive, the incentive to cut corners is always there. And, as our product liability lawyers have seen time and again, many pharmaceutical companies are unable to resist this temptation. When corners are cut in the manufacture or design of medications, innocent patients suffer the consequences – and they're often severe.
If you've been hurt by a defective drug in the Chicago, Illinois area, please call the Sklare Law Group today at (312) 759-1616 for a free consultation.
Examples Of Defective Drugs
Medications work through some very complicated mechanisms that take place deep within your body. These mechanisms are quite sensitive, and even the slightest error in design or manufacture can result in devastating side effects. Finding a way to, for example, cure a headache or treat diabetes without doing lasting damage to the rest of the body is a non-negotiable task for any drug manufacturer.
When drug manufacturers make mistakes, the results can be fatal. As the victim of such a mistake, you deserve vigorous legal representation.
Common examples of defective drugs include:
- Anti-depressants
- Diet pills
- Birth control medications
- Over-the-counter drugs such as Tylenol or Aspirin
Sadly, the list of drugs that have posed serious health risks to those who take them is quite extensive, and can't be fully replicated here.
Cases involving defective drugs are quite complicated, as they include complicated medical issues and often cross jurisdictional boundaries. These cases often require class actions or multi-district litigation efforts. Our defective drug lawyers will discuss your case with you and determine a course of action that's right for you.
Defective Medical Devices
A fully functional medical device can seem like a miracle. When properly designed, manufactured, prescribed and installed, a medical device can dramatically improve your quality of life. Such a device can even save your life.
However, because medical devices are placed inside your body, they can also be very dangerous. When something goes wrong with your device, you feel the consequences. And in tragic cases, those consequences can even be fatal.
Just like prescription drugs, medical devices are a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. The race to design the newest device to treat the most widespread conditions is intense, and quality control is not always as much of a concern as you would like in that race.
Medical devices can be lifesavers, but that doesn't change the lived reality of millions of Americans who trusted their devices and ended up suffering agonizing pain and debilitating injuries.
Examples of defective medical devices include:
- Stryker hip implants
- Birth control devices
- Medtronic insulin pumps
- Robotic surgery tools
- IVC filters
- Vaginal mesh
Who's liable in these cases? Oftentimes it's the medical device manufacturer, who either poorly designed their device or failed to provide proper warning of a known issue. Sometimes, the responsibility lies with the medical professional who recommended the device or the one who implanted it, and made a mistake that qualifies as medical malpractice.
Our experienced lawyers will thoroughly investigate your device to discover where liability lies in your case.
What To Do After Being Hurt
It's important that you take some simple steps to protect your health and legal rights in the aftermath of a defective product injury. After your injury, you should:
- Keep the product, if at all possible. Don't put yourself in any danger, but try to maintain possession of the product
- Track down any records documenting your purchase or maintenance of the product
- Seek medical attention
- Arrange a free consultation with our defective product lawyers
You deserve the best possible legal representation. Many defective products are manufactured by large, wealthy companies with massive legal departments. If you're going to pursue legal action against them, it's important that you have skilled, experienced attorneys on your side.
If you want to speak to our experienced defective products attorneys in the Chicago area, please call the Sklare Law Group today at (312) 759-1616 for a free consultation.