Articles Posted in Defective Products

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18 wheeler crash.jpgWe have all experienced the same fear as we drive on the highway: A huge eighteen wheeler (“Mack Truck”; “Tractor Trailer”) either in front of us or trying to pass us. The very thought of being next to one of these huge vehicles, as they speed down the highway, immediately invokes caution in drivers.

Unfortunately, about 500,000 trucking accidents happen every year in the United States. And of those, about 5,000 result in fatalities, death. Of the approximate 5,000 deaths caused by trucks (e.g., Mack Trucks, Eighteen Wheelers; Tractor Trailers; Freight liners), 98% of those fatalities occur to the people in the cars that were hit by the trucks.

Because these trucks are so massive and deadly, our U.S. Congress has passed an enormous amount of laws to regulate the trucking industry. These laws are complex and numerous, so you must obtain a good Georgia lawyer who understands how to litigate crashes that involve trucks.

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injured.JPGA second corporation that manufacturers and distributes alcohol wipes that are supposed to prevent infection just issued a large recall because of possible bacterial contaminants. The company shared a mutual supplier with the same wipe maker in Wisconsin whose products have been blamed for deaths and illnesses.

Professional Disposables International Inc., or PDI, of New York, voluntarily recalled all lots of five types of non-sterile alcohol prep wipes because the company claimed low levels of a dangerous bacteria had been detected.

It is the same bacteria organism that resulted in massive international recalls, a company plant shutting down and multiple lawsuits against Triad Group and H&P Industries of Hartland, Wis.

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Lady-justice-jury.jpg Williams Oinonen LLC (Good Georgia Lawyer) is a member of AAJ, the American Association for Justice. AAJ shares the same commitment as Williams Oinonen LLC, making certain people have a fair shot at obtaining justice through the legal system when they are injured by the wrongdoing or negligence of others. We believe this even when it means challenging big foreign corporations. The problem is that a recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court this past month makes it even harder to challenge foreign corporations and easier for companies outside the United States to get off the hook when they create a product that injures or kills an American consumer.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McIntyre Machinery v. Nicastro is the case that creates challenges and makes it much more difficult to hold foreign manufacturers accountable in the U.S. court system.

American Association for Justice Gibson Vance commented on this decision stating: “Simply put, foreign companies that market and sell their products in our country should not be able to evade accountability. . . In our global marketplace, this decision will allow foreign manufacturers to sell their products without adhering to our safety standards.”

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lady.JPGGood Georgia Lawyer’s favorite consumer advocacy group Public Citizen is pushing the FDA to issue a recall for a vaginal mesh used for women dealing with incontinence and other health issues. The consumer group warned that this product carries a high risk of serious injury for women.

Public Citizen filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration urging them to recall the mesh to prevent women being exposed to serious life altering injuries.

The Food and Drug Administration did state that women who have these mesh implants are at greater risk of bleeding, infection, and pain compared to a more traditional surgery.

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Under Georgia law, can a home buyer sue a seller who is unhappy with the house? Unless the house seller is also the house builder, the answer is “Generally no.”

Fortunately for sellers, the law in Georgia protects home owners who sell their house to people who later suffer from “buyers remorse” and want to sue them to rescind the sale. Unfortunately for buyers, unless the seller was also the home builder, there is not much you can do to rescind a sale agreement even if the home seller fraudulently misrepresented or hid a housing defect. Nevertheless, the law is very specific, so if you find yourself in this situation, time is of the essence and it is imperative you seek competent legal counsel right away to ascertain your rights.

In general, home sellers are protected from home buyers who later try to rescind the sales agreement by various Georgia doctrines. Today’s article discusses the Doctrine of Caveat Emptor:

Doctrine of Caveat Emptor:

The rule in Georgia is Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware). This is a common law doctrine which serves as the general rule regarding the purchase of realty. Cendant Mobility Financial Corp. v. Asuamah, 285 Ga. 818 (2009). If a home has mold, termites, a rotten roof, or any other defect—it is the buyer’s responsibility to fully investigate this prior to buying the home. In general, the buyer is put on warning and notice that they are responsible to discover such defects and if they discover them after the real estate transaction, unfortunately it is a case of too little, too late.

Consequently, the doctrine of Caveat Emptor defends and protects home sellers and our housing market from being “vexed to economic death by lawsuits by every purchaser of a house who discovers a defect which he believes the previous homeowner should have discovered and revealed. . . [when there] is probably no such thing as a perfect house” and all purchasers know that an older house is almost certainly not perfect. Cendant Mobility Financial Corp. v. Asuamah, 285 Ga. 818, 821 (2009). Thus, this affirmative defense often soundly defeats a buyers claims in a lawsuit.

Thus the morale of the story is Buyer Beware! Regardless, if you are a home seller who is being threatened by a lawsuit, or if you are a home buyer contemplating a lawsuit against a seller—the laws are very specific to one’s situation and it is absolutely important that you seek competent legal counsel as soon as possible in order to protect your rights.
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rat.jpgContaminated food can cause injury or even death to consumers and cause expensive, costly lawsuits to sellers, making it very important that food is produced and stored in sanitary conditions. Yesterday federal agents seized food products from a rat infested warehouse in East Point Georgia, owned by the United Food Service Company. Close to one million dollars of contaminated food was confiscated.

U.S. Attorneys issued a statement stating: “The insanitary conditions alleged to exist in this warehouse where food is stored are simply unacceptable,” and that “This office has moved quickly to prevent the FDA-regulated products stored in this rodent-infested warehouse from being sold to unsuspecting consumers.

According to authorities, the Food and Drug Administration inspected the warehouse and documented an active and widespread rodent infestation, photographing and videotaping multiple live rats, dead rats, and rat nesting sites.

In Georgia, liability for knowingly or negligently selling unwholesome provisions has been imposed by statute since 1863. The seller has a duty to know the condition of the food that he sells, because contaminated food can seriously injure or even kill a consumer. And because the seller is in the best position to know the food, he is the one who will be held liable.

The plaintiff does have a duty to exercise ordinary care to avoid getting injured by consuming the bad food. The plaintiff must prove that the food was unwholesome and this is not established by the mere fact that the plaintiff became sick after eating it. However recovery is possible based on circumstantial evidence that rules out every other reasonable hypothesis that could be an explanation for his or her illness.
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Thumbnail image for Toyota_Corolla_Verso.JPGInjuries or deaths are caused each year by SUV rollovers, faulty airbags, bad brakes, and more. Just this past year Toyota has recalled over 10 million cars and trucks all over the world for a variety of problems that included floor mats that trapped accelerators, brake problems, and faulty gas pedals.

Unfortunately for Toyota consumers, the misfortune continues as they recently announced a new recall of 1.53 million Lexus, Avalon and other models, mostly in the United States and Japan for fuel pump and brake fluid problems.

Toyota announced today that it would call back 740,000 cars in the U.S. alone. Just two months ago, Toyota recalled 1.33 million Corolla and Matrixs, bringing the total around 10 million. hatchbacks in the U.S. and Canada

In Georgia, automobile manufacturers like Ford, Toyota, or Lexus would be held strictly liable in products liability torts action. The Georgia legislature drafted these laws in order to protect consumers by shifting the burden of the loss or injury to the wrongdoer, i.e. the manufacturer of the product defect that caused the harm. The basic elements of this legal claim are: first, the manufacture of the product (Toyota manufactured the cars); second, a defective product (the vehicles are in fact defective hence the recalls); third, an injury to a natural person proximately caused by the defect (multiple automobile owners have suffered harms due to defects); fourth, a sale of the product as a new product (Toyota dealers sold these new vehicles off their dealership lots); and fifth, the existence of the defect at the time the product left the manufacturer’s control (the defect was present when Toyota sold the car to consumers.)
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Two million strollers from the Atlanta-based Graco Children’s Products Inc. are being recalled because of strangulation and entrapment risks.

The recall comes after four strangulation deaths have resulted from the strollers. Children also have become trapped in the strollers and injured with cuts and bruises. Infants who have not been harnessed have slipped through the opening between the seat’s bottom and tray, and the infant’s neck has become entrapped and strangled.

The recall includes older versions of Graco’s Quattro Tour and MetroLite Strollers and travel systems sold between November 2000 and December 2007.

The strollers were sold all across the country at stores including: Kmart, Walmart, Target, Sears, Babies ‘R’ Us, Burlington Coat Factory, Meijers and Sears.

For more information about the recall and to find out the specific models visit: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11015.html
To avoid stroller injuries, make sure that you do not use recalled strollers and always make sure your child is strapped in properly. If babies aren’t strapped into the strollers carefully, they can slip through the opening between the stroller tray and bottom of the seat — where they can get stuck and be strangled.
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Thumbnail image for Toyota_Corolla_Verso.JPG
Toyota lawsuits and Toyota lawyers seem to have been the constant theme of the past year in Toyota news. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem Toyota consumers can catch a break. After a wave of Toyota acceleration problems leading to injuries and lawsuits, the latest news is that Toyota is having a new recall for engine defects in their Toyota Corolla sedans and Matrix hatchbacks.

Toyota recalled 1.33 million of these vehicles in the U.S. and Canada yesterday because their engines may stall, the latest problems at the Japanese auto manufacturer.The recall covers 2005-2008 years sold in Canada and the U.S. Toyota has now recalled more than 10 million vehicles worldwide for problems that run from floor mats, faulty gas pedals, and more. Separately, General Motors Co. also conducting a recall on 200,000 Pontiac Vibes due to a similar problem.

Fortunately, both automakers will replace the problem parts at no charge and will mail notifications to owners in mid September. This same problem was caused by a possible defect in an engine control module manufactured by Delphi Corp, a auto parts supplier in Michigan.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating the possibility of engine stalling in the Corolla and Matrix vehicles since last year and now with this latest news of recalls, reported that it has stepped up its investigation. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured due to a Toyota or other auto defect or malfunction, Georgia law entitles you to compensation for your injuries.

In Georgia, Toyota manufacturers would be held strictly liable in products liability torts action. Georgia lawmakers did this in order to protect the consumer by shifting the burden of the loss to the wrongdoer, i.e. the manufacturer of the defective product that caused the injuries. The essential elements of this tort action are: first, the manufacture of the product (Toyota manufactured the cars); second, a defective product (the vehicles are in fact defective hence the recalls); third, an injury to a natural person proximately caused by the defect (multiple Toyota owners suffered injuries due to this defect); fourth, a sale of the product as a new product (Toyota dealers sold these new vehicles off their dealership lots); and fifth, the existence of the defect at the time the product left the manufacturer’s control (the defect was present when Toyota sold the car to consumers.)
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