Unsafe Products and Preventable Injuries
We assume the products we buy are safe from toys to clothes we wear to food we eat. Unsafe or defective products can cause injuries and deaths that the product’s designers or manufacturers can be held responsible for. These are called “product liability” cases, and may involve not only the actual product, but its instructions and/or warning labels. There are product liability cases involving a wide variety of products, including:
People before Profits
In most cases, we discovered the manufacturer knew their products were dangerous. The products could have been made safer, but shortcuts were taken to increase profits.
Toning Shoes — Shape Ups or Dangerous Rip Off
You have probably seen advertisements for athletic shoes that promise to “tone and firm your calf, thigh, abdominal and buttock muscles.” All you have to do is walk around in them all day. These shoes cost over $100. They are even made for young children. The advertising for these “toning shoes” does not warn consumers that the shoes can lead to serious injuries.
The “toning shoes” design creates an unnatural gait or walking pattern which can make the wearer instable thus increasing the risk of stress fractures, falling and fall injuries. Toning shoes are especially risky for elderly people, diabetics and those with poor balance, vertigo, lack of feeling in their feet or chronically weak ankles.
Many injuries have occurred to nurses, health care providers, waiters and others in the service industries as the toning shoe manufacturers have specifically targeted these groups in their marketing campaigns.
Knowledgeable medical experts and many in the orthopedic community recognize that anything which impacts your gait may cause harm to your bones, muscles, and joints. Regrettably, the toning shoe manufacturers ignored this literature and failed to conduct adequate safety studies to demonstrate that wearing these shoes is safe.
One toning shoe user in Ohio has expert medical proof that her use of those shoes led to fractures in both of her hips. She has filed a claim against the toning shoe manufacturer to recover damages for her injuries.
Toning shoe manufacturers promote their products with alluring claims of muscle benefits and the shoes’ ability to slim calves and legs. Toning shoe companies state their products increase muscle activation, improve balance and stimulate the metabolism.
Understandably, the market for shoes with those alleged benefits has grown steadily. Spurred by the testimonials of famous athletes and celebrities, various brands are now offered to health-conscious consumers, including
However, a study conducted by exercise scientists has found no evidence that toning shoes provide any significant benefit over traditional athletic shoes.
Defective or Unsafe Products Injury
If you suspect that an unsafe or defective product contributed to an injury to you or someone else, be sure to keep the product (and any instructions or warnings that came with the product) in your possession. Don’t throw the product away or return it to the distributor. Start the process of identifying the problem and the manufacturer’s responsibility.
