Heating Pad Lawsuits

Most hospitals use heating pads for patients who require heat therapy. Heating pads have thermostats which control their temperature and can be used safely on a sleeping or unconscious patient when properly supervised by a health professional.

Heating pads are used to treat sore muscles or joints. It is considered a relatively safe product but it can have dangerous affect on patients on patients with decreased temperature sensation, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, patients who have suffered a stroke, patients taking medication for pain or sleeplessness or those who have been drinking alcohol. Continuous use on one particular body area can result in severe burn even in low temperature settings. Infants are at particular risk for electric heating pad injuries the heating pad would cover a large area of their small bodies. It is also risky to use the heating pad on persons who cannot feel pain to the skin due of advanced age, diabetes, spinal cord injury, or medication.

Heating pads at home can also cause injuries. Heating pads can cause a second or third degree burn, even without catching fire. It can also cause fires when the heating element gets too hot and ignites the materials around the heating pad. Injuries from heating pads can be a result of a defective product. Many heating pad models have been recalled because of design and manufacturing defects. When you buy a product for use, you would expect it to fit for a particular purpose and there is no defect it in the product that you prevent its proper use and enjoyment. If you buy a product and you are suffer injury in the course of its proper use, you can claim compensation for the injuries you suffer by filing a claim for product liability against the manufacturer and other parties along the chain of sale of the product. A product is said to be defective if it causes some injury or damage to a person because of some defect in the product or its labeling or the way the product was used. The manufacturer, and others involved in the chain of commerce involving the products that caused the injury, are often held liable for injuries caused.

If you need to file a defective product lawsuit, Anapol Schwartz is a West VA law firm on your side. Anapol Schwartz has a Wheeling attorney (Barry Hill) who can compassionately handle your defective productss lawsuit.

To succeed in a product liability suit, the victim must prove that the product is defective. There are three types of product defects - design defect, manufacturing defect, marketing defect.

1. A design defect happens when the product is not safe for its intended use. The manufacturer fails to design the product so as to make it safe for its intended use. In these cases, the manufacturer should have seen the foreseen the risk and the risk could have been avoided by changing the design of the product. Design defects are in a manner of speaking, "intended". This type of defect is inherent in the design of the product.
2. A manufacturing defect is a defect which happens during the manufacturing process. It is different from a design defect. The product can fail or malfunction if there is a manufacturing defect despite being of a safe design. A manufacturing defect happens if the manufacturer uses inferior quality, wrong materials, or has other problems in the process of manufacture (e.g. contamination). Failure to exercise quality control is also a manufacturing defect. Manufacturing defects are defects that were not intended.
3. The third reason for a product malfunction is a marketing defect. Marketing defect is the failure of the manufacturer to warn the users of the dangers or provide proper instructions for use of the product. Marketing defects are defects in the manner in which a product is sold. The manufacturer has the obligation to warn users of any danger from the use of the product and also provide proper instructions. All states have laws that allow compensation to persons injured by defective products. The defect may be obvious or not-so obvious.

If you are or one of your loved ones is suffering from a heating pad injury, you may be entitled to compensation.