You shouldn't have to worry about whether the appliances in your kitchen, the car you drive, or the medication your doctor prescribed are going to hurt you. But defective products cause injuries every day. When that happens in New Jersey, the law gives you the right to hold the manufacturer, distributor, and retailer accountable.
Three Types of Defects
Design defects exist when the product's design itself is inherently unsafe. Manufacturing defects happen during production: the design is fine, but something went wrong in the factory. Failure to warn covers situations where the product lacked adequate safety instructions or warnings. The Consumer Product Safety Commission maintains a searchable database of product recalls that can be useful evidence in these cases.
New Jersey's Product Liability Act
The NJ Product Liability Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:58C-1 et seq.) allows strict liability in certain circumstances. You don't have to prove the manufacturer was negligent. You just have to show the product was defective and the defect caused your injury. This is a lower bar than typical negligence claims.
The Discovery Rule
The two year statute of limitations can be extended if the defect wasn't immediately apparent. If a medical device fails three years after implantation, the clock starts when you discovered the defect, not when the product was sold.
Product defects can cause traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, burns, amputations, and sometimes wrongful death. Understanding the full range of damages available to you is important when evaluating these cases.