Defective Products Lawyer in St. Francois County, MO.

Defective Products Lawyer in St. Francois County, MO. If you or someone you care about was harmed by a dangerous product, get in touch with a Burger law defective products lawyer in St. Francois County, MO immediately at (314) 500-HURT or fill out our online form for a complimentary case review.

Imagine what your daily like looks like: You may have a skincare routine or put on some hair gel in the morning, take a prescription, go to school or work in your vehicle, sit at in a chair or work around technology, and/or use your android throughout the day. You may drive go-carts on the weekend. You may even have a ankle replacement or other medical device. It seems we're always using or surrounded by some sort of product that at one point was designed, produced, shipped and sold. When there is a mistake in that process and a product becomes defective, it can cause severe harm to you and your St. Francois County, MO family. If tragedy struck you, you need the expert and dedicated legal representation of Burger Law's defective products lawyer team to stand up to powerful corporations and deliver you the full financial recovery you are owed.

In our In our 70 years of combined experience fighting for fairness and justice, we have secured our clients in St. Francois County and beyond over $170 million. Talking to us is free, so there's no risk in having us look over your claim. Call a defective products lawyer in St. Francois County, MO today at (314) 500-HURT.

If you were harmed by a faulty product in St. Francois County, MO, learn the true value of your claim by filling out our free personal injury calculator.



The following are some useful links and FAQS from your Burger Law defective products injury lawyer in St. Francois County, 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?

How Common Are Defective Products in St. Francois County, MO?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that defective products result in more than 29 million injuries and 21,000 deaths every year.

According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, in 2019 the mean average that people injured by faulty products recovered was over $7 million in product liability cases that went to trial, while the median was $2 million. That shows the unbelievable destruction an unsafe product can cause.

If you were one of the many people hurt by a faulty product, call a Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Francois County, MO for passionate, dedicated and experienced support and legal representation.

How Defective Products Claims Work in St. Francois County, MO

Under Missouri Revised Statute §537.760, you and your St. Francois County, MO defective products lawyer can can hold a person or corporation responsible for your injuries if three conditions are met:

1. The company was involved in the product's design, manufacture, distribution and sale.
2. The product was used in a manner logically foreseen.
3. One or both of the following:
   1. The product was in a defective condition that was unreasonably hazardous when you bought the product that caused you direct harm, and/or
   2. The manufacturer or distributor failed to warn on the products packaging of an inherently dangerous condition.

The "stream of commerce" refers to anyone that took part in the product coming to fruiting and hitting the shelves, from initial design to sale, including a distributor or vendor. According to Missouri Revised Statute §5537.762, a person or company who had nothing to do with the product beyond selling it can be dismissed from the case if:

• The manufacturer is known, has not closed their business and is able to pay for the entirety of your injuries.
• The seller makes an affidavit under oath that their only involvement in the stream of commerce was selling it.
• There is no evidence is submitted to the court that the distributor was involved in any other part of the chain of distribution.
• The motion to dismiss is filed no later than 60 days after the complaint is filed.

If those conditions are satisfied, 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 shows that they were actually involved in the engineering of the product, were otherwise at fault for the hazardous condition or the manufacturer cannot reimburse you 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 at-fault party is held accountable.

Missouri Revised Statute §537.764 provides one defense for "state of the art products," meaning that a dangerous aspect of the product was not known and could not be discovered when the product was introduced to the public. This defense will only work for 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 dangerous aspect.

Negligence vs. Strict Liability in Defective Products Cases

Most personal injury suits in St. Francois County, MO are based on the conception of negligence. We all have a civil duty to not recklessly cause harm to other people in certain situations; for example, doctors must treat their St. Francois County, MO patients with a standard of care. When someone is negligent, for example if are injured by a fatigued truck driver they might be found accountable for your damages and would have to pay you compensation.

By contrast, most product liability or defective products claims are determined by strict liability, meaning that anyone involved in the manufacture and sale of a product is to blame for any damage 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. Francois County, 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 — when it left the manufacturer's or distributor's control.

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 fault in the design that afterwards affects all of that product model that go on to be manufactured. An example is an electrical appliance that can overheat and cause fires.
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 only make one product faulty, for example, one can of soda may have a bug in it, or all of them may contain potentially dangerous chemicals. An example could be incorrectly installing wires or electrical components or a swing set with a cracked chain.
3. Inadequate Warnings and Instructions: This refers to a product made it through design and production safely but caused injury because it did not give adequate instructions or warnings about innate risks. Examples include a drug that is sold without mentioning certain risks or side effects or food packaging that does not mention all the ingredients and causes an allergic reaction. The company that makes a product generally does not have to warn against obvious dangers. For instance, they do not have to warn you that a match could start a fire.

Strict liability is meant to incentivize corporations to implement comprehensive safety procedures for guaranteeing that their products will not put the people who use it at risk. Even so, too often companies are negligent 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. Francois County, 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. Francois County, MO

A common defense for manufacturers in a dangerous product lawsuit is that you are liable for all or a portion of your damages. Missouri Revised Statute §537.765 permits for those in the chain of distribution to posit that you are liable for a portion of your injuries and, therefore, they are not liable for your full financial recovery. For example, if a jury awards you $100,000 but finds you were 30 percent at fault for your injuries, your total compensation will only be $70,000. Often, comparative negligence arguments are a dishonest attempt a manufacturer makes to avoid their duty to reimburse you for the damage their product did to you. Your St. Francois County, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law has seen that defense and successfully fought against it many times. According to the statute, the defense may say you bear some or all of the fault if one or several of the following circumstances are relevant in your case:

• You did not use the product in a way the manufacturer could foresee. A manufacturer or vendor is only responsible for ensuring the product is safe for reasonable or predictable use. For example, certain creams or lotions are not intended to be used on your face, but many people will use them there anyway. If the product could hurt your eyes if rubbed on your face, the manufacturer needs to provide instructions specifically not to apply it to your face. On the other hand, if you put wheels on a chair and are injured racing it down the street, you likely do not have a claim because the manufacture would not be expected to foresee that happening.
• You used the product in a manner that was clearly against the manufacturer's intent. With this defense, the defendant will likely not be able to avoid liability altogether, but can significantly lower it but can considerably reduce it. Suppose you crash a car while driving 40 miles per hour over the speed limit and the brakes do not work as well as they should. The manufacturer could reasonably foresee someone doing that, but will not be completely responsible because you were being reckless.
• You used the product while aware of a reasonable level of danger associated with the use. This is often referred to as "Assumption of the risk," a concept in tort claims wherein, if a plaintiff knowingly enters into a dangerous activity, the defendant is not responsible. For instance, if you were taking a prescription drug and experience negative side effects, the pharmaceutical company would not be liable if they warned of the risk and/or you were informed of it by your doctor.
• You displayed an unreasonable failure to appreciate the danger that a product's specific use could cause. For example, you make custom modification to your car's engine despite not being a mechanic. The defense could say that any reasonable person would have known that they could be seriously harmed doing such a thing.
• You failed to 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 power tools or heavy machinery 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 recommended safety measures.
• 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 unnecessary medical treatment. The defense may say you have no right to ask them for money they do not owe you.

Just because the defense can — and will — assert that you share part of the blame, that does not mean they will be successful. Powerful corporations and insurance companies implement myriad deceitful tactics to try and devalue your claim, but your St. Francois County, MO defective products lawyer at Burger Law knows how to combat them. We know these large corporations are unfair and try to take advantage of people who do not have the same resources. Our defective products lawyer team takes claims on a contingency fee basis, which means we collect a moderate percentage of the compensation you collect, and you owe us nothing until you get the great compensation you deserve. Get in touch with Burger Law today at (314) 500-HURT for legal counsel that parallels and eclipses that of resistant corporations and insurance adjusters.

Defective Vehicle Parts Lawyer in St. Francois County, MO

Our defective products lawyer team sees in St. Francois County, MO sees more defective vehicles than any other product, both because of their ubiquity and because of how many components are involved. In 2019 alone, in excess of 53.1 million recalls were issued both for entire vehicles and individual components. Defective car parts can lead to accident and fires, and fail to protect occupants from harm as intended. Common dangerous automobile parts we see are:

• Brakes
• Airbags
• Fuel systems
• Electrical wires
• Wheels
• Steering systems
• Accelerators

Offroad vehicles like 4-wheelers can also cause injuries, for instance many of them are prone 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. Francois County, MO

We need medical devices to enhance and extend our lives. But, sometimes they can do the opposite and make our lives worse when not manufactured, shipped or implanted correctly. Examples of medical devices that your Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Francois County, MO has seen be defective are:

• Artificial hips, knees or other joints that can cause infections, limited mobility, pain or repeated dislocations
• Cardiovascular devises, which can result in infections or even wrongful death because of premature failures
• Robotic surgical assistants designed to operate on parts of the body that are difficult for a surgeon to manually reach that, when they do not work properly, can lead to perforated organs, infections and electrical burns
• Blood clot filters that allow free-floating blood clots to invade the lungs
• Permanent birth control devices that can pierce organs, result in pain in the pelvic region, abnormal hemorrhaging and unintended pregnancies

As the medical industry becomes more technologically advanced, the numbers of recalls issued for medical devices has increased exponentially. In the first three months of 2018, medical device recalls increased 126 percent, mostly due to issues with software.

In 2017, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department reported that over 10 years Medicare paid out at least $1.5 billion to replace over 73,000 flawed heart devices alone. We should not have to worry that these highly technological medical devices might cause us extensive pain instead of helping us. If a defective medical device ended up aggravating your condition, your St. Francois County, MO defective injuries lawyer at Burger Law will hold the liable parties accountable and make sure you collect a full financial recovery for all of the unneeded pain you experienced.

Earlier this year, Exactech, a manufacturer of joint replacements, had to recall several models of their Polyethylene Knee Replacements. Because of mistakes in their packaging and shipping process, the replacements deteriorate sooner than anticipated and have caused incredible pain and lifelong damage to potentially as many as 150,000 people who had received the replacement joint. When Burger Law was made aware of the defect by a client, we immediately filed suit on their behalf and are taking on more Exactech Knee Replacement cases to this day. You can read our original complaint here:

View Complaint

Defective Drug Lawyer in St. Francois County, MO

The Federal Drug Administration has firm protocols that pharmaceutical companies must follow from manufacturing to sale. However, the administration uses data from the pharmaceutical companies themselves when deciding whether or not to allow the drug to hit the market. With no absolute third-party testing many drugs reach the shelves whose potential side effects greatly outweigh their potential benefits. Too many corporations care more about the money they make more than the safety of the people they are supposed to be helping. 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. Francois County, MO to stand up to these bullying corporations and let them know that their conduct is deplorable.

Hundreds of thousands of prescriptions and medical devices are recalled in the U.S. annually, and many of them have already been widely ingested and used. If you or someone you love had your condition deteriorate because of irresponsible pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers, get in touch with a Burger Law defective products injury lawyer now. We fight hard to see justice restored by securing you compensation and holding negligent corporations responsible. Burger Law has already held opioid manufacturers accountable when their selfishness has taken someone from their family too soon.

Other common defective products we see in St. Francois County, MO include:

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

Every Burger Law defective products lawyer in St. Francois County, MO knows that when manufacturers and sellers fail to make safe products it can completely disrupt your life. That is why we have pledged our lives to seeing the injured in St. Francois County and throughout Missouri be compensated for all of their damages, not just what the product manufacturer or insurance company will tell you is acceptable to them. When you hire us, we immediately start working on wining you a financial recovery for all of your medical costs and lost wages, in addition to the emotional and physical toll your injury has inflicted on you and your St. Francois County, MO family. We will stand 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. Francois County, MO now at (314) 500-HURT or contact us online to start on the path to a true recovery.