Tampering With Consumer Products

Legal protections for consumers include laws against dangerous consumer products.  When a product causes harm because of a flaw in its design or a mistake at the factory that produced it, customers have the right to seek damages through product liability lawsuits.  Each year, product manufacturers issue recalls for many products when they become aware that the product might be defective, and this often occurs before any customers can get injured.  When products are inherently dangerous, such as pharmaceutical drugs with a high risk of adverse reactions, manufacturers withdraw them from the market entirely.  All of this falls within the field of civil law; it is rare for anyone to face criminal penalties because of accidents caused by defective products.  When a person intentionally tampers with a consumer product for the purpose of causing harm to buyers or anyone who comes into contact with the product, this is the crime of product tampering.  If you are facing charges for product tampering, contact a Pittsburgh criminal defense lawyer.

Penalties for Violating Product Tampering Laws

Product tampering is a federal crime punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and a prison sentence of up to ten years.  Judges in product tampering cases have considerable freedom to choose an appropriate sentence based on the seriousness of the crime, meaning the harm that the product tampering incident caused or could have caused if a buyer had used the product for its intended purpose without noticing that it had been tampered with.  Product tampering occurs when someone alters or contaminates the contents or packaging of a consumer product, especially one meant to come into direct contact with the body, such as a food or personal care product.  The definition of product tampering includes everything from taking an ace bandage out of the package, wrapping it around your ankle to try it on, and putting it back in the package to opening boxes of cereal on supermarket shelves and contaminating them with non-edible substances.

In the News

Shane Jon-Paul White of New Castle is facing federal charges for product tampering.  In early 2022, he was working at a distribution center for a pharmaceutical company, and his duties included handling bottles of oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets that were going to be shipped to pharmacies.  White, 41, allegedly removed the tablets from several bottles and replaced them with equal numbers of tablets of over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and guaifenesin, a drug used in over-the-counter cold medications such as Mucinex.  He received criminal charges in October 2023.  The Department of Justice website did not say whether he received any additional charges related to the controlled substances he allegedly removed from their packages at the distribution center.

Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for tampering with consumer products, including but not limited to controlled substances.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.

Source:

justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/new-castle-resident-indicted-charge-violating-federal-consumer-product-tampering-laws