The product recalls never seem to quit

In just one day alone, at least six significant product recalls hit the media. When will this end?

Product recalls seem to be becoming as common as the “common” cold. Not a day goes by that something isn’t yanked off the shelves or recalled back to its maker for something that isn’t right. Whether that “something that isn’t right” is tainted food, a defective baby product, a gas smoker, a vehicle with a leaking fuel tank or a product with a chemical in it that mimics Viagra, the world of manufacturing seems to be running amok.

What happened to responsibility? What happened to protecting consumers from dangerous goods? What happened to making a quality product that lasted a long time and was safe to use? If you’re thinking “money happened,” you’d be right. Unfortunately, in the great unseemly rush to get products to market to make money, there are corners cut, sub-standard materials used, designs not closely inspected for problems and insufficient product testing, labeling or warnings.

These days, that old saying about the buyer needing to beware is far truer than we’d like to contemplate. What options does a consumer seriously harmed by a defective product have? They have a legal recourse. To initiate that, talk to a skilled lawyer who has experience in situations like this. It doesn’t matter what type of defective product you ran afoul of, if you have been injured (or in severe cases, you lost a loved one) you need to know your rights and how to file a claim for compensation for damages.

Take the recent recall of infant and toddler hammocks, made in Malaysia. They were recalled because the hammock could tilt, trapping the baby against the fabric or mattress pad and posing a strangulation hazard. Then there was the recall of Char-Broil vertical gas smokers, made in China. Gas built up inside the smoker, causing the door to explode open. There were some nasty injuries as a result of that defect. The list doesn’t stop there. There was also a major recall of MasXtreme supplement single blister packs because they potentially contained a chemical similar to Viagra. There are a lot of probable personal injury cases waiting to be filed in just those three recent examples.

The thing with product recalls is that if the items hit the marketplace before anyone begins to understand that there is a problem – and this tends to happen quite a lot – and by the time the recall is announced, someone, somewhere has bought the product. They bought the product not knowing they may have a disaster on their hands when they unknowingly use it. While the recall is nice and the right thing to do, it doesn’t always solve the problem, nor does it absolve the manufacturer of product liability.

For those who have unwittingly bought a defective product that causes seriously injuries, even though they thought that it would be safe, it’s time to take what’s left of the product and call a lawyer.

Charlie Donahue is a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States. To learn more about New Hampshire injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit Donahuelawfirm.com.

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