Products liability doctrine holds a manufacturer, or other party involved in selling a product, strictly liable when an article, placed into the market with knowledge that it is to be used without inspection for defects, proves to have a defect that causes a personal injury. Consumers who are injured because of a fault with a product that the consumers had no ability to protect themselves against may recover against the manufacturer under a theory of products liability.
Norton is an independent city within the confines of Wise County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 3,904, making it the smallest city in the state by population. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Norton with surrounding Wise County for statistical purposes.