Orlando Defective Baby Product Attorneys
When you purchase a product for your baby, you undoubtedly do so with the belief that the product is safe and free from defects that could harm your baby. Unfortunately, despite strict safety standards and regulations, defective baby products not only still make it into consumer households, but also cause significant injuries to infants and toddlers each year.
If your child has been injured by a defective product, such as a crib, high chair or stroller, you may be entitled to compensation for the physical and emotional injuries it caused. At Bailey Fisher PLLC, we have more than half a century of combined legal experience successfully litigating product liability lawsuits. We are committed to putting our expertise and resources to work to ensure that the people responsible for your child’s injuries are held legally accountable.
What Makes a Baby Product Defective?
In the United States, a confusing array of state and federal laws is in place aimed at ensuring defective products do not make it into the hands of consumers. Nevertheless, consumers are injured, even killed, by defective products every day.
The area of the law that addresses injuries caused by defective products is referred to as “product liability” and falls under the broader legal umbrella known as “torts.” Under the legal doctrine of product liability, a product can be defective in three ways, including:
- Design Defects. A design defect is one that is introduced into the product during the design phase. For example, a crib that was designed with too much room between the spindles, causing a risk that the baby’s head will get stuck between them, has a design defect. Because this kind of defect is inherent in the design itself, it will be present in all products manufactured using that design.
- Manufacturing Defects. A manufacturing defect is introduced into the product during the manufacturing phase. The product’s design is safe; however, something occurs during the manufacture of the product that results in a defect. For instance, if an infant car seat was designed safely, but substandard metal was used during the manufacture of the latching mechanism, the seat would become defective. Manufacturing defects are only present in products manufactured during a specific time period, at a specific location, or using a specific material or part.
- Failure to Warn Defects. There are products that cannot be made completely safe because of the inherent nature of the product itself. These products require warnings. For example, products that pose a choking hazard to young children must contain a label warning of that danger. If an adequate warning is missing, the product is deemed defective.
What Defective Baby Products Cause Injuries in Orlando?
Each year, an average of 100 children under the age of five are fatally injured in accidents involving nursery products. In 2018 alone, there were an estimated 59,000 emergency room visits associated with nursery products in the United States, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Common examples of defective baby products and the injuries they cause include:
- Highchairs. Highchairs consistently rank at the top of the list when it comes to nursery product accidents with an average of 12,000 injuries each year that require an emergency room visit. Defectively designed highchairs pose a substantial risk of tipping over or failing to secure a young child, which can result in a dangerous fall.
- Cribs and mattresses. Cribs and mattresses can be improperly designed or manufactured, resulting in falls, strangulation, asphyxiation, and head/limb injuries. Cribs and mattresses cause around 10,000 emergency room visits each year and are the leading cause of infant deaths, with an average of 100 each year in the U.S.
- Strollers and carriages. A defective stroller or carriage can fail to remain in place if the brake mechanism does not work correctly, causing a baby to be injured in a collision. Defective restraints can also result in young children falling out of the stroller/carriage.
- Infant carriers. Infant carriers are involved in about 8,000 injuries requiring an emergency room visit and 10 deaths each year. A defective design or defective part among the numerous moving parts in an infant carrier can result in a baby that is not secure in the carrier. In an accident, this can result in serious head trauma and internal injuries to a baby.
- Changing tables. Improperly designed or installed restraints on an infant changing table can result in the baby rolling off the table, causing serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
- Gates and barriers. If a baby gate is defective, it may not work as intended, leading to the baby falling down stairs and sustaining serious injuries.
- Baby swings, bouncers, and walkers. These baby products must be designed and manufactured to accommodate an active child. Weight limits must also be considered. When a baby swing, bouncer, or walker is defectively designed or manufactured or fails to warn parents about weight limits, injuries may occur.
- Childrens’ Furniture. Dressers, bookcases, and other pieces of furniture that are sold for use in young childrens’ rooms are sometimes unstable and can tip over if not properly designed. Furniture that is top-heavy or which creates a risk that a child may try to climb on open drawers or shelves should be secured to the wall and should come with appropriate instructions and warnings about the foreseeable risk of this kind of accident.
What Compensation Can Injured Victims of Defective Baby Products Receive?
If your child has been seriously injured because of a defective walker, swing, crib, stroller, high chair or other baby product, you can take legal action with a product liability lawsuit to hold those responsible for the defect accountable. In a Florida product liability lawsuit, you need to show that the product had a design, manufacturing, or failure to warn defect, that you used the product as intended, and that you and your child suffered actual damages from using the product as intended. In other words, you must prove damages other than damage to the defective product itself, such as medical bills or lost wages, that are a direct result of injuries caused by the defective product.
If you can show you suffered actual damages because of the defective product, you may be able to obtain substantial compensation for:
- Medical and healthcare expenses incurred as a result of the injuries
- Emotional trauma you and your child experienced
- Physical injuries and pain and suffering your child experienced because of the injuries
- Damages under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act for the loss of a child’s life
The amount of compensation you may receive depends on the physical injuries your child suffered and other circumstances of your case. An experienced Orlando defective baby products attorney can help you identify all potential responsible parties and the compensation you may be able to obtain.
Get Help from Experienced Orlando Defective Baby Product Attorneys
The defective baby product attorneys at Bailey Fisher Law know how traumatic, even life-altering, it can be for parents when their child is injured. When the injury was completely preventable, the emotional pain they suffer is even worse.
The defective product lawyers at Bailey Fisher understand the pain and confusing parents feel and are committed to helping them hold anyone who played a role in allowing a defective baby product to injure their child accountable. If your child has been seriously injured or killed because of a defective product, we will help you take effective legal action against the responsible parties to obtain the maximum compensation possible for the physical and mental injuries caused by the defective product.
Let us put our vast experience and resources to work for you and your family. Call us at 407-628-2929 or submit our online form today. One of our experienced Orlando defective baby products attorneys will evaluate your case for free. For viable personal injury cases, we will follow up with the necessary legal action to hold the responsible party accountable for their negligence and recover the financial compensation you deserve for your pain, suffering, and losses.