North Carolina Pressure Cooker Injury Lawsuits
Defective pressure cookers have caused severe injuries to North Carolina residents despite being marketed as completely safe kitchen appliances. When these devices malfunction, they can spray superheated contents across kitchens, causing life-changing burns, scarring, and other serious injuries to victims who were simply preparing meals for their families.
At Brent Adams & Associates, our North Carolina pressure cooker injury attorneys have seen the devastating impact these accidents have on victims throughout Raleigh, Dunn, Fayetteville, and communities across our state. For over 30 years, we’ve stood up for injured North Carolinians against negligent manufacturers who put profits over safety.
If you or a family member has suffered burns or injuries from a pressure cooker explosion, you may be entitled to significant compensation. Our experienced team is ready to evaluate your case today through our simple online assessment.
What Are Pressure Cookers and Why Are They Dangerous?
Pressure cookers use steam under pressure to cook food quickly while preserving nutrients and flavor. In recent years, electric models like the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, and Crock-Pot Express have become fixtures in North Carolina kitchens. Manufacturers extensively promote these appliances’ convenience and supposed safety features, including locking lids that should prevent opening while under pressure.
Despite these safety claims, our North Carolina pressure cooker attorneys have discovered that many of these devices contain serious design flaws that can lead to catastrophic failures. When safety mechanisms don’t work as advertised, the consequences can be devastating for users and their families.
Critical Safety Failures
Lid-locking mechanisms fail unexpectedly. This critical safety feature often malfunctions, allowing lids to open while contents remain dangerously pressurized.
Foods reach dangerous temperatures. Contents can exceed 250°F, causing instantaneous third-degree burns when expelled onto skin.
Pressure creates violent eruptions. The pressurized environment violently expels contents when containment fails, spraying scalding food over wide areas.
Internal components deteriorate rapidly. Many units show premature wear of gaskets, sensors, and pressure valves despite normal household use.
Safety standards aren’t rigorous enough. Many manufacturers prioritize quick production over thorough safety testing and quality control.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has documented alarming trends in pressure cooker injuries, with thousands of emergency room visits annually. Multiple manufacturers have issued recalls, including Sunbeam Products recalling nearly 1 million Crock-Pot Express Pressure Cookers in November 2020 after numerous reports of lid detachment and burn injuries.
Medical research on pressure cooker burns shows they typically cause deeper tissue damage than conventional burns due to the combination of extreme temperature and pressure. These injuries often require specialized treatment at burn centers, multiple surgeries, and extensive rehabilitation.
Your Legal Rights
Manufacturers must ensure safety. North Carolina law holds companies responsible for injuries caused by defective products regardless of intent.
Fundamental safety flaws exist. Many pressure cookers contain inherent design problems that make them dangerous even when used correctly.
Production errors cause failures. Substandard materials and poor quality control lead to critical safety component failures.
Danger warnings were inadequate. Companies failed to properly disclose risks while marketing products as completely safe.
Under North Carolina product liability law, manufacturers and sellers can be held responsible when their products cause harm due to defects in design, manufacturing, or inadequate warnings. For pressure cooker cases, this typically involves proving that the product was unreasonably dangerous when used as intended.
Recent court decisions have established important precedents for pressure cooker litigation. In 2021, a significant case resulted in a multi-million dollar verdict for a plaintiff who suffered third-degree burns when her pressure cooker’s lid detached during normal use despite following all safety instructions. This and other cases have strengthened the legal foundation for victims seeking justice.
At Brent Adams & Associates, our pressure cooker injury lawyers work with qualified engineers and medical experts to document exactly how these devices fail and the full extent of our clients’ injuries. We meticulously build cases that demonstrate the manufacturer’s liability and the comprehensive damages our clients have suffered.
Who Qualifies to File a Pressure Cooker Lawsuit?
If you’ve been injured by a pressure cooker explosion in North Carolina, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer. Our Brent Adams & Associates pressure cooker attorneys are evaluating cases that meet specific criteria.
To qualify for a potential claim, you must have been using a pressure cooker that malfunctioned despite following the manufacturer’s instructions. This typically involves the safety features failing to prevent the lid from opening while the contents were still under pressure, resulting in an explosion of scalding food and liquid.
Your injuries must have required medical attention, such as emergency room treatment, hospitalization, or ongoing care for burns. Medical documentation is essential for establishing your claim and the damages you’ve suffered. Our team works with medical professionals who can properly assess and document the full extent of your injuries.
In North Carolina, you generally have three years from the date of injury to file a product liability claim, though certain exceptions may apply in some circumstances. If you’re unsure whether you’re still within this timeframe, our attorneys can evaluate your specific situation.
It’s beneficial if you still have the defective pressure cooker, as this physical evidence can be examined by our engineering experts to determine exactly how the safety mechanisms failed. However, even if you no longer have the device, you may still have a valid claim based on your medical records and the documented pattern of failures in that particular model.
Pressure cooker explosion victims typically suffer various injuries, including second and third-degree burns requiring skin grafts, facial disfigurement and permanent scarring, eye injuries from steam or projectile components, and psychological trauma including anxiety and PTSD related to cooking.
Get Your Instant Case Evaluation
Don’t wait to find out if you qualify for compensation for your pressure cooker injuries. North Carolina law limits the time you have to file a claim, and delaying could jeopardize your rights.
Our simple online evaluation takes just minutes to complete and can immediately determine if you might have a case. Brent Adams & Associates has been helping injured North Carolinians for over three decades, and we’re ready to fight for you.
Check your eligibility now with our free, no-obligation case evaluation.