A client of the Keefe Law Firm had been using an eye wrinkle beauty cream product every night for about a month before she sustained her injuries. One night around midnight she applied the Renew cream as she had been applying it for the past month. She would wash her hands and face before every application. After applying the cosmetic cream she would wash her hands for a second time. Later on that night, she woke up in pain and her left eye was burning. She fell back asleep, but when she awoke that morning her left eye was swollen and she was great pain.
Over the next few days the pain and swelling in her left eye steadily worsened. It became increasingly swollen, red and excreted pus. When it got to the point where she could no longer see out of the eye, the injured client went to the emergency room at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey. The client had no prior eye injuries. She was suffering from a severe irritation of her eye. She was diagnosed with chemical conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the membrane on the inner part of the eyelids and the membrane covering the white of the eye. In this case, the doctors attributed the infection to the cosmetic skin cream. The doctors in the Emergency Room had to copiously irrigate her left eye to remove the “yellow drainage” in order to help alleviate the pain. She had a three day history of pain and photophobia in the left eye down to the left cheek. On a scale of 1-10 her pain was 10. She was prescribed pain medication and antibiotic eye drops. She had to rest her eye as much as possible as long as there was still pain. She was told to stay out of bright light, wear dark sun glasses and not read until her eye was better. She was told not to wear contacts until her eye was better.
After her consultation with the doctors at Monmouth Medical Center, the woman saw an optometrist who informed her that she had a scratched cornea, a small hole, and two scratches in her left eye. As a result of this eye injury incident, the client had been unable to wear contact lenses in the eye. She was left with a subepithelial scar with thinning of the cornea as a direct result of her exposure to the toxicity of the cosmetic eye wrinkle cream.
The lawyers handling the eye injury lawsuit showed that the client incurred substantial medical bills from her injuries. The manufacturer of the eye wrinkle cream is a health, make-up, and beauty cream company with a global sales base. The company designs, manufactures, and sells countless types of products ranging from lipstick to rejuvenating facial lift skin creams. The product was purchased in Brazil by a friend of the client.
Gerald Clark, Esquire, and other product liability attorneys and paralegals at the Keefe Law Firm conducted a thorough investigation of the incident. Among other things, they gathered medical records, secured the product and other evidence, interviewed witnesses and medical doctors, conducted chemical testing of the product and consulted with experts. Once enough evidence had been gathered to prove a product defect / dangerous product liability case, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the client. The lawsuit alleged the product was defective because it contained a number of ingredients that are harmful to sensitive eye tissues. The New Jersey injury attorneys showed that these harmful chemicals in the cosmetic product made it unsafe. This was especially so for an eye wrinkle cream product intended to be applied around the eyes. Through expert analysis in the beauty makeup and cosmetics industry, it was shown that the product could have been designed without these ingredients and that it would have made no material difference to the efficacy of the product.
The lawyers handling defective product cases showed here that under basic New Jersey products liability law, the manufacturer of the product would be strictly liable for the client’s injuries, even though she eventually over a long period of time recovered from her injuries. The case settled after litigation for an amount of money that fairly and accurately compensated the client for the serious injury the cosmetic product had caused her.
