Defective Toy Attorneys / Product Liability

Children’s toys have come a long way from building blocks and baby dolls. In just the span of a few decades, the variety of toys available for children has expanded almost beyond imagination. This means that toy companies feel immense pressure to create the next best thing to grab the attention of kids, or to price their goods lower than the competition to catch the parents’ eye. Unfortunately, safety and quality are often sacrificed in the process.

Every year, thousands of children are hurt by toys. While some of these injuries are true accidents, many are the result of defects in a toy’s design or construction. When a company fails to provide safe toys, it may be held liable for any injuries that result.

Common Defects and Injuries

Sadly, there are seemingly endless ways that children can be hurt when playing with their toys. When it comes to defective and unsafe toys, several hazards appear over and over again. They include:

• Choking on small pieces or parts that break off from a toy.
• Burns or electric shocks from a faulty battery-operated toy.
• Cuts, lacerations, or amputation of fingers/toes from strings, wires, etc.
• Strangulation from strings or ropes.
• Blindness or eye injury from “shooting” or projectile toys.
• Deafness or hearing loss from toys that exceed safe noise levels.
• Exposure to toxic chemicals or metals from unsafe plastics, lead-based paints, etc.

In a few cases, children have sustained fatal injuries from playing with a defective toy. Typically, injuries incurred from unsafe toys are not from isolated incidents. When the number of injury reports grows, companies will investigate the reports and determine whether a product recall is necessary. A recall is a company’s way of acknowledging that there is a problem and attempting to remove the dangerous item consumer homes.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) oversees product safety and offers a comprehensive list of toy recalls. The list of recalled items is available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html.

Legal Options

When a child is hurt by a toy that is inherently unsafe, the parents are entitled to legal recourse. Typically, defective toy claims fall into the legal category known as product liability. Specifically, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have an obligation to provide products that are safe for their intended use. When companies fail to do so, they are liable to consumers for any damage caused by their products.

If a product has been recalled, it is likely that many children have been already hurt. If you find yourself dealing with injuries from a recalled toy, contacting a knowledgeable product liability attorney can help you to understand your rights and options, including any class action lawsuits that may be pending against the toy manufacturer. If a product has not been recalled, the companies who make and sell the toy may not yet be aware of the problem. In such cases, working with a product liability lawyer can protect your rights while helping to ensure that the toy company is informed of the situation so that appropriate action can be taken.

In both cases, a product liability lawsuit seeks damages, or monetary compensation, for the individual (and sometimes the family of the individual) who has been injured. Damages may include payment for medical expenses, long-term rehabilitation or disability, and pain and suffering. When a product hazard is especially egregious (or when a company knowingly sold toys it knew to be dangerous), the courts may also award punitive damages as a way of punishing the company and deterring future wrongdoing.

If your child has been injured by a defective or unsafe toy, contact a product liability attorney today.