Products liability refers to a claim or lawsuit against a manufacturer or seller of a product—such as a defective medical device—for the recovery of damages related to personal injury, death, or property damage claimed to be caused by a defective product.
The claim or lawsuit may be based on the legal theories of strict tort liability, strict products liability, negligence, misrepresentation, breach of express or implied warranty, or any other theory or combination of theories.
Product liability claims may be made against the manufacturer of component parts, an assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retailer. And product liability claims may be made by the consumer who purchased the product or by someone else who borrowed or used the product.
Product liability laws vary from state to state, and product liability claims may be based on the state’s court opinions (also known as case law or common law) or on the state’s statutes—which are usually the version of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) adopted by the state.
For example, under a state’s version of Article 2 of the UCC (dealing with sales of goods) there are implied warranties of merchantability and of fitness of the goods for a particular purpose included in every sale of goods. In some states these warranties may be waived by agreement, but in other states they may not be waived. See U.C.C. §2-314 and U.C.C. §2-315.
And under a strict liability theory of products liability, the amount of care or precaution taken by the manufacturer is not relevant—the manufacturer will be liable for the harm result from the defective product.
To prevail on a products liability claim, the claimant or plaintiff must prove the product:
• was defective in its design (a design defect) because there was a safer alternative design for the product;
• was defective in its manufacture (a manufacturing defect) because its production departed from the intended design, was significantly or materially different from the other products of the same design, did not work as intended, and was more dangerous to the consumer than expected; or
• was defective in its marketing (a marketing defect) because the product’s advertising and instructions for use were inadequate or failed to warn consumers of hidden (latent) dangers in the product.
In Washington State, product liability is governed by both state statutes and case law. The Washington Product Liability Act (WPLA) is the primary statute that addresses product liability claims. Under the WPLA, a claim can be brought against manufacturers, distributors, sellers, or others who provided the product. The claim may be based on various theories including strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, or misrepresentation. The WPLA allows for claims due to design defects, manufacturing defects, and failure to provide adequate warnings or instructions (marketing defects). A product is considered defective if it is not reasonably safe as designed, not reasonably safe due to inadequate warnings or instructions, or is unsafe to an extent beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary consumer. Strict liability under the WPLA means that the manufacturer can be held liable regardless of the level of care they took if the product was defective and caused harm. Washington State also recognizes the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose under its version of the UCC. These warranties ensure that goods sold are fit for the general purpose for which they are sold and for any specific purpose made known to the seller at the time of sale. While these warranties can be disclaimed or modified under certain conditions, such disclaimers must be in writing and are subject to specific requirements to be valid.
