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Tell Me What You Eat, And I Will Tell Whom To Sue: Big Trouble Ahead For “Big Food"?, Richard C. Ausness
Tell Me What You Eat, And I Will Tell Whom To Sue: Big Trouble Ahead For “Big Food"?, Richard C. Ausness
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
Overweight consumers are seeking damages from purveyors of fast food for obesity-related health problems. Plaintiffs claim that products that are high in fat, sugar, salt and cholesterol are defective. Other potential liability theories include product category liability, failure to warn, failure to disclose nutritional information, deceptive advertising, and negligent marketing. However, in order to prevail at trial, plaintiffs must overcome problems with causation, duty and proximate cause, shifting responsibility, federal preemption, comparative fault, and assumption of risk. If such litigation is successful, it may induce fast-food companies to produce healthier products. Nevertheless, this Article concludes that the problem of obesity, …
The Case For A "Strong" Regulatory Compliance Defense, Richard C. Ausness
The Case For A "Strong" Regulatory Compliance Defense, Richard C. Ausness
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
Federal administrative agencies have established safety standards or licensing procedures for airplanes, motor vehicles, pesticides, drugs, medical devices, and a variety of other products. At the same time, product sellers are subject to tort liability even though their products comply with applicable federal safety standards. Product sellers maintain that compliance with federal safety standards ought to protect them from liability under state tort law and have relied upon several legal principles to support this claim. The first, and most successful, theory is federal preemption. Under this concept, Congress may expressly or impliedly assert the primacy of federal law under the …