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Americans are getting more wary about product safety according to a recent survey of 1,000 people by Thomson West.

Thomson West found that 61 percent of respondents are "worried or very worried" about product safety, and that more than half are "more worried" than they were a year ago.

Surprisingly, nearly 75 percent of those people surveyed owned a recalled product, led by automobiles (42%), followed by food (27%) and toys (15%). Two-thirds of people said they returned the products for repair, replacement or a refund, and 35 percent said they threw them away. Unfortunately, eight percent kept using the recalled products.

Consumer awareness concerning recalls may explain why the number of product liability lawsuits are skyrocketing. Thomson West said that product liability lawsuits have more than doubled in the past five years, reaching a record 28,274 in 2006. Pharmaceutical liability lawsuits accounted for over 50 percent of the product liability lawsuits in 2006.

Reference:

"Product safety more of a worry," startribune.com, December 2007.