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Determining Defective Product Liability

A manufacturer or seller is strictly liable for harm caused by a defective product when it places a product into the stream of commerce.

pointer Strict liability has been invoked in California for three types of defects, manufacturing defect, design defects and warning defects generally termed inadequate warning or failure to warn.

A manufacturing defect is one that causes the particular item in questions to either differ from the manufacturer's own specifications or standards or to differ from other ostensibly identical units of the same product line.

Design defects are determined by two tests: the consumer expectations test, and the risk benefit balancing test.

The consumer expectation test focuses on whether the product meets the ordinary expectations of the consumer as to its safety under the circumstances. The alternative test is a risk benefit test that requires the defendant to show, after the plaintiff proves an injury from the product's design, that the benefits of the design outweigh the risks inherent in the design.

pointer Other causes of action in a products liability action include breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, breach of express warranty, negligence fraud and false advertising.

The plaintiff is entitled to receive past and future medical expenses, past and future loss of earnings and past and future pain and suffering and possibly punitive damages.