Defective Products Lawyer in St. Charles, MO.

Defective Products Lawyer in St. Charles, MO. If you or a family member sustained an injury because of a dangerous product, reach out to a Burger law defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO right away at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a complimentary case evaluation.

Imagine what your daily like looks like: You may make coffee in a coffee maker in the morning, take allergy medication, go to school or work on your bike, sit at in a chair or work around heavy machinery, and/or use your android on and off throughout the day. You may drive go-carts on the weekend. You may even have a prosthetic limb or other medical device. It seems we're always using or surrounded by some sort of product that has gone through various stages of design and production before it reaches the market. When there is an error in that process and a product becomes dangerous, it can have a catastrophic impact on St. Charles, MO individuals and families. If tragedy struck you, you need the skilled and dedicated legal representation of Burger Law's defective products lawyer team to fight on your behalf and win you the full compensation you are owed.

In our In our 70 years of combined experience fighting for the rights of the injured and vulnerable, we have secured our clients in St. Charles and throughout Missouri over $170 million. Talking to us is free, so there's no reason to wait. Call a defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO immediately at (314) 500-HURT.

If you were hurt by a faulty product in St. Charles, MO, learn how much your claim may be worth by filling out our complimentary personal injury calculator.



The following are some useful links and FAQS from your Burger Law defective products injury lawyer in St. Charles, MO:

• FDA Recall List and Safety Alerts
• Consumer Products Safety Commission Recall List
• U.S. Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Recall List
• Recalls.Gov
• What to Do if You're Injured by a Dangerous Product?
• Can I Sue a Company if Their Product Gave Me Cancer?
• Can I Sue for a Defective Car Part if it Caused My Accident?

St. Charles, MO Defective Products Statistics

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has found that hazardous products cause in excess of 29 million injuries and 21,000 deaths each year.

According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, in 2019 the mean average that juries awarded plaintiffs in product liability claims was over $7 million, while the median was $2 million. That shows the extreme harm an unsafe product can cause.

If you or someone you know was harmed by a faulty product, call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO for compassionate, devoted and skilled support and legal advocacy.

What is the Process for Defective Products Claims in St. Charles, MO?

According to Missouri Revised Statute §537.760, you and your St. Charles, MO defective products lawyer can can hold a person or company to blame for your damages if three conditions are true:

1. The corporation was part of the product's chain of distribution.
2. The product was used in a way rationally foreseen.
3. One or both of the following:
   1. The product had a faulty condition that was unreasonably hazardous when the product was sold that was the proximate cause of your injuries, and/or
   2. Your injuries stemmed from a hazardous condition inherent in the product that was not warned of in the labeling or instructions.

The "stream of commerce" refers to anyone involved in the product from initial conception to sale, including the person or entity that sold you the product. Pursuant to Missouri Revised Statute §5537.762, someone whose sole connection to the case is that they were the seller or distributor of the product may avoid liability if:

• The manufacturer is known, has not closed their business and can afford to reimburse you for the entirety of your injuries.
• The entity that sold it signs an affidavit under oath that they had nothing to do with the product beyond selling it.
• No other party in the case submits evidence that the seller took part in any other facet of the chain of distribution.
• The dismissal is requested to the judge no later than 60 days after the complaint is filed.

If the above conditions are fulfilled, the vendor would then be dismissed without prejudice, which means the decision to leave them out of the suit is not final. So, if later evidence demonstrates that they had a larger role in the engineering of the product than they intimated, were otherwise at fault for the hazardous condition or the manufacturer cannot pay for the entirety of your damages, your defective products lawyer at Burger Law would then be able to call them back to court and ensure that every liable party is held responsible.

Missouri Revised Statute §537.764 provides one defense for "state of the art products," where a dangerous condition could not be entirely understood before use by the public. This defense is only applicable to for inadequate warning product liability claims, and it is up to the defense to prove that there is no way they could have known about the hazardous aspect.

Strict Liability and Negligence in Defective Products Claims: What's the Difference?

The majority of personal injury lawsuits in St. Charles, MO are based on the concept of negligence. We all have a civil duty to not carelessly cause injuries to other people in certain situations; for example, St. Charles, MO dog owners must always have control of their dog. When someone is negligent, for example if if there a loose floor boards at a restaurant that cause you to fall they might be found accountable for your damages and would have to pay you compensation.

However, most product liability or hazardous products cases are strict liability claims, meaning that a designer, manufacturer or vendor is at fault for any injuries that results the reasonable use of a product, irrespective of negligence. According to jury instruction revisions made by the Missouri Supreme Court, defendant's in a product liability case may be held to the strict liability standard if you and your St. Charles, MO defective products lawyer can demonstrate that the product was "unreasonably dangerous" — meaning it is unsafe when used as intended or in a foreseeable way — at the moment that it got into your hands.

Missouri classifies three different ways in which your defective products lawyer can argue a product was dangerous:

1. Design Defect: A design defect is an inherent flaw in the design that afterwards passes the flaw to all products with the same design. An example is an improperly designed safeguard on a power tool.
2. Manufacturing Defects: This refers to a product that was safe in its design but became unsafe because of mistakes in the manufacturing process. This can either affect only one product, i.e. a single vehicle, or several or all of them, as in an entire line of the same model vehicle. An example could be installing outdated components or a swing set with a cracked chain.
3. Insufficient Warnings and Instructions: This refers to a product made it through design and production safely but caused harm because it did not give proper instructions or warnings about inherent risks. Examples include failing to warn that a hairdryer might cause an electric shock if it comes in contact with water or not advising an appropriate age range for children if a toy or game is a choking hazard. The company that makes a product generally does not have to warn against risks that a reasonable person would anticipate. For example, they do not have to warn you that a chainsaw can cut you.

Strict liability is meant to hold corporations accountable and persuade them to implement exhaustive safety protocols for guaranteeing the safety of their products. However, too often corporations do not respect their obligation to make safe products and try to focus more on their bottoms line than ensuring their products will not hurt anyone. When that happens, your Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO will hold them responsible by conducting a full investigation of your case and demanding nothing but maximum compensation.

Comparative Negligence in Defective Productions Claims in St. Charles, MO

Manufacturers, distributors and anyone else in the stream of commerce will often rely on the theory of comparative fault when building their defense. Missouri Revised Statute §537.765 allows for those in the stream of commerce to argue that you are responsible for a portion of your damages and, therefore, they do not have to pay you your full financial recovery. For example, if a jury determines that you have $100,000 in damages but finds you were 30 percent to blame for the accident, you will only receive $70,000. Often, claims of comparative fault are an erroneous attempt a manufacturer makes to avoid their duty to pay you for the damage their product did to you. Your St. Charles, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law will not let them get away with it. Under the statute, the defense may argue you bear some or all of the fault if one or several of the following circumstances apply:

• You did not use the product in a manner the manufacturer could foresee. A manufacturer or seller is only responsible for ensuring the product is safe for reasonable or predictable use. For example, while chairs are meant to be sat on, it is easy to predict that someone will stand on one. So if a certain model of chair is dangerous to stand on, the manufacturer needs to include a warning not to stand on it. By contrast, if you use a loaded shotgun to prop a door open and it misfires, you likely do not have a claim because the manufacture would not be expected to foresee that use of the product.
• You used the product in a manner the manufacturer did not intend. With this defense, Someone in the chain of distribution will not be able to completely avoid fault but can significantly decrease it. Suppose you combine a certain medication with alcohol, producing negative side-effects or leading you to cause a car wreck. A pharmaceutical company could reasonably see someone doing that, but will not be completely responsible because you were being reckless.
• You knew of inherent risks of the product while you were using it. This is often called as "Assumption of the risk," a concept in tort claims wherein, if the injured party was aware of risks, the defendant is not responsible. For instance, you understand that using a sharp kitchen knife can cut you if you are not extremely careful.
• You displayed an unreasonable failure to appreciate the danger that a product's specific use could cause. For example, you were injured while snowmobiling at high speeds in a blizzard on icy surfaces. The defense could say that any reasonable person would have known that they could be seriously hurt doing such a thing.
• You did not follow safety guidelines. Certain products come with safety instructions that the user has an obligation to follow to protect themselves. If you were using or around highly corrosive materials and neglected to wear protection for your eyes or gloves, the defense can argue your injuries are your fault because you had not adhered to proper protocols.
• You did not mitigate your damages. In any personal injury claim, you have a duty to try to keep your damages as low as you reasonable can. For example, you cannot seek compensation for medical treatment for injuries that have nothing to do with. The defense may say you have no right to ask them for money they do not owe you.

Just because the manufacturer or distributor can — and will — work hard to persuade a jury that you share part of the blame, that does not mean the claim is automatically true. Large corporations and insurance companies implement myriad deceitful tactics to try and lower your claim, but your St. Charles, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law knows how to combat them. We know these companies have a lot of money to throw at their defense and try to take advantage of people who do not have the same resources. All you will ever owe is a contingency fee, which means we collect a moderate percentage of the financial recovery you receive, and we do not collect any attorney's fees until we win your case. Call Burger Law immediately at (314) 500-HURT for legal advocacy that rivals and eclipses that of bullying manufacturers and distributors and insurance companies.

Defective Vehicle Parts Lawyer in St. Charles, MO

Our defective products lawyer team sees in St. Charles, MO sees more defective vehicles than any other product, both because of their ubiquity and because of how many components it takes to make them run. In 2019 alone, more than 53.1 million recalls were issued both for entire vehicles and individual components. Defective car parts can cause collisions and fires, and fail to protect occupants from harm as intended. Common defective motor vehicle components we see are:

• Brakes
• Airbags
• Ignitions
• Electrical systems
• Wheels
• Steering systems
• Engine cooling fan blades

Alternative vehicles like ATVs can also cause harm, for instance if a design defect gives them a heightened propensity to rolling over.

Your Burger Law defective products lawyer has extensive experience investigating car accident claims and injuries and will consult with experts to determine if your accident was the fault of a faulty vehicle component.

Defective Medical Devices Lawyer in St. Charles, MO

Medical devices are intended to make our lives better and allow us to live the life we want. But, sometimes they can do the opposite and make our lives worse when they are defective. Common medical devices that your Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO has seen be defective include:

• Artificial hips, knees or other joints that can result in infections, instability, chronic soreness or recurring dislocations
• Cardiovascular devises, which can cause infections or even wrongful death because of premature failures
• Surgical robots intended to operate on hard to reach areas which, when they malfunction, can cause perforated organs, infections and internal burns
• Blood clot filters that do not sufficiently protect the lungs from free-floating blood clots
• Permanent birth control devices that can puncture organs, lead to pain in the pelvic region, abnormal blood loss and unwanted pregnancies

As the medical industry keeps inventing new technologies, the amount of recalls issued for medical devices has gone up exponentially. In the first quarter of 2018, medical device recalls increased 126 percent, with software issues being the foremost factor.

In 2017, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department announced that in the course of 10 years Medicare had to spend at least $1.5 billion to replace over 73,000 faulty cardiovascular devices alone. We should not have to worry that these highly advanced medical devices might cause us extensive pain instead of easing it. If a faulty medical device caused you injuries, your St. Charles, MO defective injuries lawyer at Burger Law will fight for your right to be compensated when your trust was betrayed.

In February of this year, Exactech, a manufacturer of joint replacements, issued an Exactech Polyethylene Knee Replacement Recall. Because of flaws in their packaging and shipping process, the replacements do not last nearly as long as they were designed to and have caused unimaginable pain and permanent damage to potentially as many as 150,000 people who had the replacement joint implanted. When Burger Law was retained by a client, we immediately got to work bringing them what peace of mind we could and are taking on more Exactech Knee Replacement cases to this day. You can view the complaint we filed for our first client by clicking the button below:

View Complaint

Defective Drug Lawyer in St. Charles, MO

The Federal Drug Administration has firm procedures for the testing, labeling, packaging and shipping of prescription drugs. However, the administration does not actually test drugs itself; rather, it relies on data from pharmaceutical companies' own testing to determine if a drug is safe for release to the public. That means that many drugs reach the market whose potential side effects greatly outweigh their potential benefits. Too many pharmaceutical companies care more about the money they make more than the safety of the people who need medicine and treatments that are truly effective. Currently, it is usually the pharmaceutical company's decision if they will recall a drug that has found to have dangerous side effects. One way to make sure dangerous prescriptions stay off the shelves: call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO to stand up to these bullying corporations and make them realize that their behavior is deplorable.

Hundreds of thousands of drugs and medical devices are taken off the national market each year, and many of them have already been widely ingested and used. If you or someone you care about sustained injuries because of reckless pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, get in touch with a Burger Law defective products injury lawyer immediately. We protect the rights of the injured and vulnerable and make sure negligent corporations know how much damage they have caused. Burger Law has already successfully filed suits for families against opioid manufacturers so they can have some sense of justice for the wrongful death of their loved one.

Other examples of defective products we file suit for in St. Charles, MO include:

• Children's toys
• Chemicals such as week killer
• Baby powder
• Household appliances
• Industrial equipment
• Cell phone batteries
• Cosmetic products

Every Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO knows that when manufacturers and sellers fail to make safe products it can completely disrupt your daily routine, your family and even your present and future financial security. That is why we have pledged our careers to seeing the injured in St. Charles and throughout Missouri be compensated for all of their damages, not just what the product manufacturer or insurance company wants to pay. When you hire us, we immediately start working on delivering you a financial recovery for all of your medical expenses and lost wages, as well as the emotional and physical hardships your injury has inflicted on you and your St. Charles, MO family. We will fight by your side the entire away and never allow a powerful corporation think that they are going to win every time. Call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Charles, MO today at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online to start on your journey to a true recovery.