Taking Action After Your Child Was Injured By A Toy

Posted on June 3, 2021 in Premises Liability

The last thing any parent should ever have to experience is their child being injured due to a defective toy. As a parent, you probably check toy labels to ensure that you are giving your child an age-appropriate and safe item to play with. However, if a toy is defective, this can lead to significant injuries. Here, we want to discuss whether or not parents are allowed to file product liability claims against companies or manufacturers who supply faulty toys.

What Types of Products Can be Harmful for Kids?

When we look at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) website, we can see that children’s products get recalled regularly. There may be various reasons why a toy may be recalled. For example, some of the most common reasons listed for toy recalls include:

• Small parts that could easily become choking hazards for younger infants or toddlers.
• Toys that are not labeled with the appropriate age ranges.
• Products that are poorly designed or manufactured that do not work appropriately and cause harm to children.
• Lead or other harmful chemicals present in the toy.

According to data available from the CPSC, there were approximately 166,000 total toy-related emergency room injuries in children younger than 15 during the latest reporting year across the country. Thankfully, toy recalls have continued to decline over the years.

What You Can do if Your Child is Injured by a Defective Toy

If your child has been injured due to a defective toy, there are steps you can take both immediately and in the days and weeks that follow the incident to help ensure you recover the compensation you need.

1. Seek immediate medical care. It is absolutely critical for you, as a parent or guardian, ensure that your child receives immediate medical care after sustaining an injury or contracting an illness caused by a defective product. You must ensure the well-being of your child. Additionally, by seeking immediate medical care following the incident, you will be establishing a link between the defective product and the injuries or illness.
2. Gather as much evidence as possible. After the initial emergency is over with, you need to gather and preserve as much evidence as possible. Do not throw away the defective toy. Put it in a safe location so it can be examined by attorneys or insurance carriers at a later date. Take photographs of the toy, the area where the incident happened, and any injuries your child has sustained.
3. Contact a product liability attorney. Product liability claims can become incredibly difficult for individuals to handle on their own. These cases often put families up against well-funded toy companies or manufacturers and their legal teams. A skilled product liability attorney can level the playing field by providing the resources necessary to fully investigate the claim in order to determine liability. An attorney will vigorously negotiate with the other parties involved to obtain full compensation for families.
4. Continue all follow-up care. It is important for family members to ensure that their child continues receiving medical care until the doctor says the child has reached maximum medical improvement. Failing to continue follow-up care could result in the insurance carriers denying an injury claim.