Product Liability Question

[azrider]

I recently made something but had a question about it. When a person has open heart or lung surgery, they use a pillow to brace their sternum together as it heals, since there is no way to put a cast on it. When they are first leaving the hospital, they use this pillow under the seatbelt strap in the car. After six or so weeks, the Dr. allows them to drive again, but they can not use the pillow while driving. In order to keep the seat belt strap away from the incision, I made a strap about 16 inches long, with two snaps. One half can be hooked under the bottom belt, one can be hooked over the top one. It keeps the top belt on the shoulder, but pulls it down so it doesn't go across the incision. It works really well to make driving less painful.

I wanted to make a couple of dozen of these, and donate them to the group that makes the pillows for the cardiac patients at the hospital. My only worry is that since they change the way a seat belt fits, could I get sued if someone gets in an accident, and the seat belt doesn't work as well as it would otherwise?

Below is a picture of the strap. If you know anyone recovering from a bypass or any surgery where their chest was opened, they might appreciate one of these. Feel free to use the design.

Edited May 26, 2012 by azrider

[mlapaglia]

Im not a lawyer but it looks like it uses the same principal that the ones that keep the belt of a pregnant woman's stomach uses. They are sold all over. Id say you are care. Print on them "Use at your own risk".

But the only person that will be able to give you a good answer is a lawyer.

[Bluesman]

I would stay away from ANYTHING some Mc Donald's, poured coffee in my lap, attorney could get ahold up. Just me.

Edited May 27, 2012 by Bluesman

[TwinOaks]

You can get sued for anything, by anybody, for just about any reason. Just don't label it as "seat belt re-positioning strap" and you I think you should be 'okay'.....after all, you could have designed it to be used to hold back curtains. Not your fault if it's "mis-used".

[Chavez]

Hi!

Product liability insurance is something I'm interested in too.

Does anyone on this forum have it?

Personally, I'm against any unnecessary insurance (any insurance is gambling against the odds imho), but there are cases where you're better off with it.

For general items: what if somebody's kid chews up their wallet that they bought from me and gets sick? Silly, perhaps, but looking at the modern trend for lawsuits, I can see somebody trying to sue me for not specifying that the wallet should be kept out of reach of hungry children. Even if they don't stand a chance in court, I would still need some cash to pay for a lawyer to defend myself.

For things like dog collars its even worse: you won't sell many if you tell everyone to use them at their own risk! But if it snaps, I'm sure it will come back to me =(

[Ferg]

Don't mean to make your day bad, we carry $2,000,000 liability. Have never in 35 years needed it but I can only imagine what would happen if some idiot decided to sue and we weren't covered.

Your cost may be decided depending on your yearly sales, ours is.

ferg

Hi!

Product liability insurance is something I'm interested in too.

Does anyone on this forum have it?

Personally, I'm against any unnecessary insurance (any insurance is gambling against the odds imho), but there are cases where you're better off with it.

For general items: what if somebody's kid chews up their wallet that they bought from me and gets sick? Silly, perhaps, but looking at the modern trend for lawsuits, I can see somebody trying to sue me for not specifying that the wallet should be kept out of reach of hungry children. Even if they don't stand a chance in court, I would still need some cash to pay for a lawyer to defend myself.

For things like dog collars its even worse: you won't sell many if you tell everyone to use them at their own risk! But if it snaps, I'm sure it will come back to me =(

[Chavez]

Thanks Ferg!

I'll try to get a few quotes then=)

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Ceck with Zander insurance, they may do liabiliy. 1,000,000 general liability is around $300 a year.

Automotive related safety item = yes , you can be sued. It may even require a certification to be sold in the USA. I cleaned out a warehouse that had thousands of child restraints that were deemed illegal to sell in the USA due to their design.

[mlapaglia]

if you are worried about getting sued, incorporate. It will limit what you can lose. Im not sure if an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) would work as I have not looked into them. Its not too expensive to incorporate.

Edited May 29, 2012 by mlapaglia

[Chavez]

Thanks guys.

I'm considering incorporating anyway, but it seems to add a few extra bucks to expenses, so I haven't decided on it yet =)