What Are the Various Areas of Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury laws are designed to protect people injured as a result of someone's negligence or recklessness. The various areas of personal injury law deal with car accidents, aviation accidents, industrial accidents, burn accidents, medical malpractice and other occurrences that often lead to serious personal harm. Explore the paragraphs below to learn more about various types of personal injury lawsuits and the available compensation.

Defective Products. Defective products have gotten a lot of press lately as several widespread recalls have occurred in the United States. The recalled products are labeled defective because they have been found harmful to people who rely on them. Products that have been found defective include certain types of airbags, seatbelts and tires. Defective automotive products are especially harmful as they have the potential to cause a catastrophic auto accident that can kill the driver and/or passengers.

Defective products fall under strict liability statutes. This means that the product manufacturer can be held liable even if it is not shown that the manufacturer was negligent or caused willful wrongdoing. If the consumers prove that the product poses unreasonable risk of causing harm and that someone was hurt, the court will generally side with the consumers. This means the injured victims may be able to receive compensation for their suffering. This is similar to car accidents involving DUI whereby the intoxicated driver is generally presumed liable for any harm suffered by the victims.

Industrial Accidents. Industrial accidents, such as exposure to toxic chemicals at work, can cause severe, chronic health conditions. When the workers are exposed to toxic substances, the harm may not be immediately apparent. Chemicals like benzene can take a long time to produce health conditions such as bone marrow toxicity and cancer. If you want to be safe, it is a good idea to arm yourself with information about dangerous chemicals involved in many industrial accidents. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 can provide you with more information.

If you have been injured in an industrial accident, you should arrange to meet with a personal injury attorney to determine whether you can file a case and earn compensation for your suffering and medical expenses. The damages sought and obtained in such suits often include compensation for chemical poisoning, broken bones, burn wounds and open head injury. If someone you love has died as a result of an industrial accident, you may wish to contact a wrongful death attorney.

Toxic Exposure and Poisoning. Many substances that can endanger health are by-products of manufacturing. Companies that release dangerous chemicals may be held liable for injuries caused to people who are exposed to toxic chemicals. Some of the toxic chemicals include benzene and asbestos. Unfortunately, the health risks of the vast majority of the 75,000 chemicals registered with the EPA have not yet been identified because most of the chemicals have not been studied adequately.

Contact a personal injury attorney if you feel you have become victim of toxic exposure. You may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to hold those responsible for your suffering financially liable.

Defective Drugs. Drug companies that intentionally withhold important information about a drug's potential harmfulness may be held liable in defective drugs lawsuits. Defective drugs are medications that have risky side effects, such as increased blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke. Certain drugs are found to be dangerous even after they have passed clinical trials and gained the FDA approval. Prozac, Vioxx and Fen-phen are three drugs whose safety has been called into question after they were prescribed to patients. The pharmaceutical companies are required to disclose potentially dangerous effects a drug may have. You should contact a personal injury attorney if you feel you have been injured by a drug that has been recalled.