A Small Product Like Earplugs Can Cause a Big Injury

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss topics related to personal injury law.

Today’s topic takes a look at the area of products liability law to show how the size of a product has no bearing on its potential to harm people. Whether big or small, defective products can be dangerous.

Just because an object is small or tiny doesn’t mean it can’t lead to big injuries. Take, for example, earbuds, which many people use to listen to music or podcasts. Earbuds are very small objects, but they can cause significant harm.

There have been reported cases of people losing their hearing from using defective earbuds as well as from using earbuds whose instructions failed to warn of the dangers associated with prolonged high-volume listening.

In addition to the potential risk of hearing loss, earbuds have been known to cause ear infections, if not sanitized properly between use. Unfortunately, most manufacturers fail to warn about the danger of ear infection, and most users are unaware of this risk. Nonetheless, ear infections can potentially lead to serious complications and should not be taken lightly.

Another example of a tiny object that can lead to big injuries is an earplug.

What if earplugs which are designed to eliminate noise and protect people from loud explosive sounds fail to work? Well, you guessed it, big injuries can occur.

Currently, there are lawsuits against the manufacturer 3M for defective earplugs sold for use by soldiers that failed to protect against exposure to injury from loud noises encountered by the soldiers.  Some soldiers experienced a partial loss of hearing, and others an almost total loss of hearing.

When even a small product causes injury, whether due to a manufacturing defect, a failure to warn, or inadequate instruction, the manufacturer and seller of the item can be held legally responsible for the injuries resulting from use of the product.

For purposes of holding manufacturers and sellers legally liable in products liability cases, product size does not matter. Manufacturers who have sold toys with small parts that a child can swallow have been held responsible for such harm flowing from their products.

Why do we bring this to your attention? Because if you’re injured and a product in any way played a part in your injury, we suggest you consult an experienced attorney to determine if there is a potential claim.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you have questions about your legal rights if you get hurt due to the carelessness of another person, or as a result of substandard medical care, or due to a product defect, construction injury, or any other type of personal injury, please give us a call at (219) 736-9700. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at www.DavidHolubLaw.com – while there make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth”.