San Diego Product Liability Attorneys

Vaage Law > Practice Areas > San Diego Product Liability Attorneys

San Diego product liability lawyers at Vaage Law have successfully represented clients against manufacturers and distributors for more than 35 years. With over $150 million recovered for everyday individuals and families, we can help make sure you are fully compensated for your personal injury claims.

When you buy a product or receive medical treatment, you trust that someone has made sure it’s safe. Companies that manufacture and sell products have a legal duty to ensure their products function properly and include warnings about any associated risks

If companies fail in this responsibility and you suffer injuries, the law gives you the right to seek compensation.

At Vaage Law, our San Diego product liability attorneys have helped workers, patients, and families who have been harmed by defective products across various industries. We work with medical professionals, engineers, and other experts who can explain what went wrong with a product and how it caused your injuries.

For a free consultation about your potential product liability case, contact a San Diego product liability lawyer online or by calling (619) 338-0505.

What Is Product Liability?

Product liability refers to the legal responsibility manufacturers, distributors, and sellers have when their products cause injuries. Under California law, these companies can be held accountable for harm caused by defective products, even if they weren’t necessarily careless in making them.

The foundation of product liability law is simple: when you buy a product or receive medical treatment, you have the right to expect that product to be reasonably safe for its intended use. When companies prioritize profits over safety or rush products to market without proper testing, they can be held accountable for the resulting injuries.

Product liability laws are designed to protect consumers and ensure that companies are held responsible for the safety of their products. These laws recognize that manufacturers are in the best position to identify and prevent product defects, and they should bear the cost when their products cause harm.

Types of Product Liability Claims

California product liability law provides several legal pathways for injured consumers to seek compensation, depending on how the product caused harm.

Strict Liability Claims

Under strict liability, manufacturers can be held responsible for injuries caused by defective products regardless of whether they acted negligently. You don’t have to prove the company was careless—just that their product was faulty and caused your injury.

For example, if a medical device, such as a hip implant, releases toxic metal particles into the body during normal use, the manufacturer can be held liable even if they followed all manufacturing procedures correctly.

Negligence Claims

These cases focus on whether the manufacturer failed to exercise reasonable care in designing, manufacturing, or marketing their product.

For instance, if a pharmaceutical company knew its medication could cause heart problems but failed to warn doctors and patients, or if an automotive manufacturer ignored safety test results showing brake defects, these could be negligence claims.

Breach of Warranty Claims

When products don’t perform as promised or advertised, manufacturers may have breached either express warranties (specific promises about the product) or implied warranties (basic expectations that products will work safely for their intended purpose).

An example would be surgical equipment advertised as “precision-engineered for patient safety” that malfunctions during surgery, or a consumer appliance that catches fire during everyday household use.

Depending on the specific circumstances of your case, one or more of these product liability claim types may apply. Your San Diego product liability lawyer will evaluate the facts and determine the strongest path forward for seeking compensation.

Product Liability Risks in San Diego

These types of product liability claims are particularly relevant in San Diego County, where our unique economy creates specific risks that affect local families in ways they might not expect.

Medical Technology Hub

San Diego hosts over 1,200 life sciences companies, making it the second-largest biotech cluster in the United States. While this brings innovation and jobs, it also means San Diego patients often receive cutting-edge medical devices and treatments that haven’t been tested long-term. When these products fail, local hospitals see the problems first.

Recent FDA data show that medical device recalls have increased by 97% in the past decade, with many of these devices being used extensively in San Diego’s major medical centers. Scripps Health, UC San Diego Health, and Sharp HealthCare serve over 3.3 million residents—when defective medical devices fail in these systems, people deserve accountability.

Border Commerce Challenges

The Port of San Diego processes over 2.2 million tons of cargo annually, much of it consumer goods manufactured overseas. While customs inspectors work diligently, some products slip through with dangerous defects. Items ranging from children’s toys to electronics end up in San Diego homes with manufacturing flaws or inadequate safety testing.

Military and Defense Industries

San Diego’s significant military presence means many residents work with or around defense contractors who manufacture specialized equipment. When military-grade products have defects, civilian workers can suffer severe injuries from equipment failures, chemical exposures, or explosions.

Types of Product Defects That Cause Injuries

Product defects fall into three main categories, each creating different types of dangers for consumers. Understanding these categories helps explain how companies can be held responsible when their products cause harm.

Design Defects

These problems exist from the moment a product is conceived. Even when manufactured perfectly according to specifications, the product poses unreasonable risks to users.

Examples include medical implants that slowly release toxic materials into the body during normal use, or appliances with top-heavy designs that easily tip over. The entire product line shares the same dangerous characteristic.

Manufacturing Defects

These occur when something goes wrong during the production process, rendering individual products hazardous, despite the design being safe.

A medication that becomes contaminated during production, or car parts that aren’t appropriately welded during assembly, are examples of manufacturing defects. Only some products from a production run will have these problems.

Warning Defects

Sometimes products are reasonably safe when used properly, but companies fail to warn consumers about known risks or provide adequate instructions.

Prescription drugs with serious side effects that aren’t disclosed, or power tools sold without proper safety warnings, fall into this category. The product itself may be fine, but consumers can’t protect themselves without proper information.

Companies can be held responsible regardless of which type of defect caused your injury. California law recognizes that manufacturers are in the best position to identify and prevent these problems, and they should bear the cost when their products harm innocent consumers.

Jerome Lew’s Story: When Medical Equipment Fails

Jerome Lew shares his experience with defective nerve monitoring equipment during spine surgery in this testimonial video.

Jerome’s experience shows how medical device failures can make health problems much worse and create entirely new injuries. The monitoring equipment was supposed to alert his surgeons if anything went wrong during the procedure, but it failed to function correctly. As a result, he suffered permanent nerve damage that completely changed his life.

Cases like Jerome’s require attorneys who understand both medical procedures and the regulations that govern medical devices. Our background in both medical malpractice and product liability law helps us build strong cases that address every aspect of our clients’ injuries.

Jerome’s case exemplifies the risks that San Diego patients face when cutting-edge medical technology fails to perform as promised.

If a defective product has injured you, don’t wait to seek legal guidance. Call Vaage Law at (619) 338-0505 or message us online to schedule a free case review with a San Diego product injury attorney today.

What Compensation Can Cover in Product Liability Cases

When a defective product injures you, California law provides several types of compensation designed to address the full impact of what you’ve experienced.

• Medical Care and Treatment Costs: This includes all medical treatment related to your injury, from emergency care to long-term rehabilitation. For serious injuries requiring ongoing care, we collaborate with medical economists to calculate the lifetime cost of your treatment, taking into account inflation and evolving medical needs.

• Income Loss and Career Impact: Product injuries can temporarily or permanently prevent you from working or affect your ability to earn a living. A Vaage Law product liability attorney in San Diego will calculate your lost wages from the date of injury and work with vocational experts when necessary to determine how your injuries might impact your future earning capacity.

• Pain, Suffering, and Life Changes: California recognizes that product injuries cause physical pain and emotional distress that deserve compensation beyond just medical bills and lost wages. We document how your injuries have affected your daily activities, relationships, sleep, recreational activities, and overall quality of life.

• Punitive Damages for Corporate Misconduct: When manufacturers show reckless disregard for safety, such as concealing known defects or rushing dangerous products to market, California courts may award additional compensation designed to punish the company and deter similar behavior in the future.

• Wrongful Death Compensation: When defective products cause fatal injuries, surviving family members can seek compensation for funeral expenses, lost financial support, and the loss of their loved one’s companionship, care, and guidance.

A study by Martindale-Nolo discovered that over 90% of people who hired a lawyer received a settlement or award, but only about 50% of people who handled their cases on their own were able to recover compensation.

This difference becomes even more significant in complex product liability cases where families face decades of future medical needs and care costs.

Our Track Record: Holding Manufacturers Accountable

Our San Diego law firm’s success in product liability cases demonstrates our commitment to thorough preparation and our ability to secure meaningful compensation for clients who face life-changing injuries resulting from defective products.

Medical Device Product Liability: $2,490,252 Settlement

A spine surgery patient suffered permanent nerve damage when defective nerve monitoring equipment failed to alert the surgical team to ongoing nerve injury during the procedure. The faulty device was supposed to provide real-time feedback about nerve function, but it malfunctioned at critical moments during surgery.

Following the procedure, our client experienced cauda equina syndrome and numerous permanent complications, including loss of bowel and bladder control, sexual dysfunction, chronic pain, and mobility limitations. His wife suffered loss of consortium as their marriage and family life were permanently altered.

The medical device manufacturer initially offered $800,000, substantially undervaluing the lifetime impact of these injuries. Through thorough case preparation and aggressive advocacy, we secured a manufacturer settlement of $1,485,000 just eight days before trial. Additional settlements from other defendants brought the total recovery to $2,490,252.

Additional Notable Results

• An engineer was severely burned when a 30-inch reheat steam pipe burst due to a faulty weld.

• The children of a father who suffered a wrongful death in a plane crash due to a defective engine part.

• Women whose surgeon used a surgical mesh in an unapproved manner during breast reconstruction surgery.

• Patients injured by other defective medical products, such as heart pumps, hip replacements, and cosmetic implants.

These results show our ability to take on large manufacturers and their legal teams, uncovering evidence of corporate negligence and securing compensation that truly addresses our clients’ needs.

Attorney Insight: Fighting for Product Safety

Attorney Robert “Bob” Vaage understands the challenges San Diego residents face when defective products cause serious injuries:

“When a product fails and seriously injures someone, that person’s entire world changes overnight. Our job is to build the strongest possible case, bring in the right experts, and fight to secure the resources our clients need for recovery. These cases are about holding companies accountable and making products safer for everyone.”

Why Choose Vaage Law for Your Product Liability Case

Vaage Law has over 150 years of combined legal experience and has recovered more than $175 million for our clients. Our San Diego-based firm knows the unique challenges that product liability cases present, from dealing with complex technical evidence to facing well-funded corporate defense teams.

We have the resources and expertise necessary to take on these challenging cases. Our San Diego product liability attorneys understand the regulations that govern different industries, how to prove products are defective, and what it takes to achieve maximum compensation for our clients.

Ready to hold manufacturers accountable for their defective products? Contact a Vaage Law product liability attorney in San Diego at (619) 338-0505 today or complete our online contact form. We’re here to help you seek justice and secure the compensation you deserve.

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San Diego Product Liability Claim FAQs

Call us today at (619) 338-0505 to speak with our San Diego product liability attorney.