3M Air Purifiers Recalled Due to Fire Hazard

If you have a Filtrete air purifier, manufactured by 3M, your device may have been recalled. The air purifiers are white, plastic devices that are powered by wall current. These devices have a two speed fan and there are two models affected. The Ultra Quiet air filter carries the model number FAPOO-RS. The second device recalled, the Maximum Allergan, carries the model number FAPOO-L. Check on the bottom of the product and look for a serial number beginning with E, F, G, H, I or J.

These devices were recalled because there have been two incidents reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. One incident involved one of these devices overheating. The other incident actually involved one of the devices catching fire.

Product liability claims are likely more common than you think. For instance, according to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission, some types of product liability claims have increased in number over the years.

Toys

Toys are very common causes behind product liability claims. In 1997, according to the US CPSC, there were approximately 141,000 injuries that resulted from toys. By 2006, that number had increased to over 255,000 with increases every year during the time span measured.

If you're considering filing a product liability claim, there are some facts about these cases that you should be aware of. Product liability claims generally count for around 10% of all personal injury lawsuits. They also pay out among the highest average jury award and settlements. In fact, they only come in second to medical malpractice claims in terms of how much they typically play out in damages. Here are other things that you should know about these lawsuits.

Why They're Filed

The three main reasons that these lawsuits are filed are as follows:

• A product was advertised defectively
• A product was designed defectively
• A product was manufactured defectively

It's important to remember that anyone who flies one of these lawsuits has suffered financially or physically due to a defective product. There are, for example, product liability claims filed because someone bought a product and it didn’t perform as advertised, but they were not injured. Being put out financially because of a defective product is most certainly reason to sue.

The FDA has stated that Chantix, a drug prescribed to relieve the symptoms of smoking cessation, may increase the risk of having a major cardiovascular event.

This data was collected during clinical trials and demonstrated that there was a higher occurrence of adverse cardiovascular events in patients who were using the drug Chantix when compared to patients who were using a placebo. Major cardiovascular events include nonfatal heart attacks, cardiovascular related deaths and nonfatal strokes.

According to a release by the USDA, a high health risk recall is in effect for pork and beef products produced by Lao Chareune Foods of Dallas, Texas. The products include 3-ounce and 8-ounce packages containing "Pork Snack Stick" food, 3.2-ounce packages containing "Seasoned Fried Beef", 1.76-ounce packages containing "Fried Pork Skins" and 1.2-ounce packages containing Slights Fried Pork Ears".

Defective products claims work in specific ways. There are some instances where people end up getting damages out of a jury award simply because a product cost them money and because it didn't live up to their expectations based on the advertisement for the product. There are also cases where filing a defective products claim is undertaken because much more serious problems with the product ended up costing the person who purchased it dearly.

A defective products claim can be filed under three basic circumstances. First, a product is manufactured in a way that was defective and that ended up bringing harm to the consumer. Second, the product was designed in a way that was defective and that ended up bringing harm to the consumer. Third, the product was advertised in a way that was defective and that ended up bringing harm to the consumer. Harm can mean financial damage, physical damage, damage to property or any other type of damage that can be quantified and added to the damages sought via the lawsuit.

Filing a lawsuit over a defective product is not a get rich quick scheme. In fact, most of the people who end up filing such a lawsuit have suffered real financial or physical harm due to the product that they were using. In order for them to recuperate those losses, a defective product attorney may advise them to file a lawsuit and to take the company that manufactured the product to court. The products that people sue over range from dangerous coffeemakers to unsafe drugs that are used to treat very serious conditions.

The filing of a lawsuit over a defective products starts by determining what about the product was actually defective. Defective products can be defective in terms of their manufacture, their advertising or their design. Some products are dangerous and, because of that, it's difficult to sue when these products end up causing injury. For example, most of the tools that people have in their garages are actually very dangerous if used improperly. It's difficult to sue over injuries sustained while using such products unless the person using them was doing so in exact accordance with the instructions for the device and was injured anyway.

The reason product liability law exists is to make certain that consumers have some way of getting compensated when a manufacturer irresponsibly releases a product onto the market that ends up causing someone harm. Harm can mean the destruction of your property, damage to your body, long-term effects on your health and many other things. Product liability lawyers in Texas represent people who have been injured because of the negligence of a company, and that quite often means that they end up going up against some very large corporations.

Unsafe Drugs

Unsafe drugs are some of the most common targets of product liability claims. Well-known drugs such as Paxil, Accutane, Vioxx, Chantix and others have all been the subjects of lawsuits over the years. Sometimes these drugs are released on the market despite the fact that testing has shown them to pose a very real threat to consumers. In these cases, the company sometimes acts based on the fact that they'll end up making more money off of the unsafe drug than they will lose to lawsuits and, despite the risks to consumers, they keep producing the drug.

On the consumer marketplace, there are most certainly products that could kill you when used as directed. For example, a firearm is specifically designed to be a  deadly product and, because of that, manufacturers enjoy some safety from being sued when their products are used in irresponsible ways that end up hurting or killing someone. The key element here is that products are intended to be used in a specific way. If they are used in that fashion and they end up hurting someone, or killing someone, the manufacturer may be vulnerable to being sued for negligence.

Use Only as Directed

You've probably heard the caveat "use only as directed" many times in your life. The reason that manufacturers put this warning on their products is to make you aware that, if you use those products incorrectly, they could pose a very real risk to your well-being. If you are, for example, using a radio near a bathtub, using a ladder on an icy surface or taking a medication in too great of quantities, the manufacturer really cannot be held liable for that. In these situations, you're the one putting yourself at risk.

One of the ways in which a product may be found to be defective is in terms of its manufacturing. In cases where people sue over defective products, they're usually suing over the advertising, design or manufacturing processes involved in getting that product on the market. Sometimes, companies have good designs and they advertise the products honestly but, in the end, their manufacturing processes end up being so flawed that the product poses a genuine danger to the people who purchase it.

Lemons

Probably the most common example of a product that is manufactured in a defective way is a bad vehicle. Most of the time, cars that are manufactured poorly are called lemons. These are vehicles that have flaws in them that are either dangerous or that render the vehicle unreliable. In the best case scenario, the manufacturer will discover that there is a flaw in their vehicle and they will recall them immediately. In these instances, the vehicle is usually repaired at no cost to the consumer and, after the issue is resolved, the product is completely serviceable. There are cases, however, where manufacturing flaws are not discovered until somebody gets hurt.