Defective consumer products have led to multiple deaths and resulted in multi-million dollars compensation claims being awarded to victims' s families. Personal injury attorneys have been successful in not only obtaining just compensation, but also having these deadly products removed from the marketplace:

Baby furniture and supplies

Poorly-designed baby equipment have led to many deaths, often from suffocation. Improperly fitted mattresses have caused suffocation deaths as babies slipped between the mattress and side rail of cribs. Rails that are designed too close to mattress level have caused babies that are mobile to climb over the side of cribs. Hanging objects designed for use in baby cribs have caused strangulation deaths. Even poorly-designed window blinds have contributed to baby strangulation deaths.

Car seats for babies have also been recalled by the millions after babies have died from inferior seat designs or defective strap buckles. So many babies and children were killed by car seats being attached to front passenger seats that laws now mandate that babies and toddlers car seats must be placed in the back seat of a vehicle.

Proper testing by manufacturers would have determined the danger of placing a child's car seat in the front of the car, saving the lives of countless children.

Defective car parts

Manufacturers' defects in car parts have been the subject of recalls and wrongful death claims since the 1970's, when  a multi-million dollar wrongful death claim was filed against Ford Motor Company after deaths resulting from improperly placed gas tanks that exploded on impact.

Since then, similar claims have been pursued and won by personal injury attorneys who have filed lawsuits for defective airbags, ignition switches, and accelerators that led to driver and passenger deaths. Some of these lawsuits are still awaiting judgement, while others have been successfully fought and resulted in large compensation awards.

Some of these products were known by manufacturers to be hazardous, but were sold anyway. Cost-to-benefit analysis showed that paying compensation for wrongful death claims would be more cost effective than recalling and repairing the products. This lead to massive punitive damage awards awarded to victims, and hopefully an end to such a repugnant practice.

Money can be replaced, but there is no monetary value that can be placed on human lives, and the devastation faced by survivors who have lost their loved ones. If some manufacturers of defective products are only moved by financial cost, then the wrongful death claim is the most effective weapon to protect consumers.