Products Liability Commons^™

Economic Analysis Of Medical Malpractice Liability And Its Reform, Jennifer Arlen

New York University Law and Economics Working Papers

This Chapter provides an economic analysis of medical error employing a model in which physicians who provide suboptimal medical care may have done so knowingly (as in the traditional model) or accidentally. Accidental medical error is a leading cause of medical negligence: many if not most physicians who provided suboptimal care did not know they were doing so but instead misdiagnosed the patient, unintentionally selected the wrong treatment or erred in treatment provision. Accordingly, in order to promote optimal health care markets, malpractice liability must be structured to both induce physicians to want to provide optimal treatments (when they are ...

Economic Analysis Of Medical Malpractice Liability And Its Reform, Jennifer Arlen

New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

This Chapter provides an economic analysis of medical error employing a model in which physicians who provide suboptimal medical care may have done so knowingly (as in the traditional model) or accidentally. Accidental medical error is a leading cause of medical negligence: many if not most physicians who provided suboptimal care did not know they were doing so but instead misdiagnosed the patient, unintentionally selected the wrong treatment or erred in treatment provision. Accordingly, in order to promote optimal health care markets, malpractice liability must be structured to both induce physicians to want to provide optimal treatments (when they are ...

A Prescription Warning, Carlton Lee Harpst

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reality Check: How Malpractice Facts Changed Malpractice Liability Theory, Jennifer Arlen

New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Empirical legal studies has transformed economic analysis of malpractice liability. Until recently, economic analysis of malpractice liability has been based on the traditional model of accidents. This model supports the conclusion that malpractice liability may not be needed if health insurers, not physicians, bear treatment costs. Moreover, this analysis implies that even when liability is welfare-enhancing, it need not be mandatory if patients are informed about the costs and benefits of liability. Empirical analysis of medical errors reveals that we cannot rely on the simple model of accidents to analyze optimal malpractice liability because patient safety depends on two different ...

Comparative Fault And Strict Products Liability: Are They Compatible?, C. R. Hickey

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reality Check: How Malpractice Facts Changed Malpractice Liability Theory, Jennifer Arlen

New York University Law and Economics Working Papers

Empirical legal studies has transformed economic analysis of malpractice liability. Until recently, economic analysis of malpractice liability has been based on the traditional model of accidents. This model supports the conclusion that malpractice liability may not be needed if health insurers, not physicians, bear treatment costs. Moreover, this analysis implies that even when liability is welfare-enhancing, it need not be mandatory if patients are informed about the costs and benefits of liability. Empirical analysis of medical errors reveals that we cannot rely on the simple model of accidents to analyze optimal malpractice liability because patient safety depends on two different ...

Administrative Remedies In The Field Of Toxic Torts, Janet L. Heller

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court's Bright Line Ruling In Riegel V. Medtronic, Inc. Gives Manufacturers Of Defective Medical Devices Broad Immunity, Sadaf Bathaee

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Sue My Car Not Me: Products Liability And Accidents Involving Autonomous Vehicles, Jeffrey K. Gurney

Jeffrey K Gurney

Autonomous vehicles will revolutionize society within the decade. These cars will cause accidents. Tort liability, however, is not ready for the introduction of autonomous vehicles, and, thus, liability will not be assessed to the party that is responsible for the accident. This Note addresses the liability of autonomous vehicle by examining products liability through the use of four scenarios: the Distracted Driver; the Diminished Capabilities Driver; the Disabled Driver; and the Attentive Driver. Based on those scenarios, this Note argues that the autonomous technology manufacturer should be liable for accidents while the vehicle is in autonomous mode. This Note suggests ...

Sue My Car Not Me: Products Liability And Accidents Involving Autonomous Vehicles, Jeffrey K. Gurney

Jeffrey K Gurney

Autonomous vehicles will revolutionize society within the decade. They will cause accidents. Tort liability, however, is not ready for the introduction of autonomous vehicles, and, thus, liability will not be assessed to the party that is responsible for the accident. This Note addresses the liability of autonomous vehicle by examining products liability through the use of four scenarios: the Distracted Driver; the Diminished Capabilities Driver; the Disabled Driver; and the Attentive Driver.

Based on those scenarios, this Note argues that the autonomous technology manufacturer should be liable for accidents while the vehicle is in autonomous mode. This Note suggests that ...

Another Citadel Has Fallen - This Time The Plaintiff's. California Applies Comparative Negligence To Strict Products Liability, Thomas G. Gehring

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Punitive Damages In Product Liability Cases , Mark P. Robinson Jr., Gerald H.B. Kane Jr.

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

California Expands Tort Liability Under The Novel Market Share Theory: Sindell V. Abbott Laboratories, N. Denise Taylor

Pepperdine Law Review

The California Supreme Court, in the novel and unprecedented case of Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories, eliminated the plaintiffs burden of identification of a negligent party, and thus the causation requirement, in a multiple party tort action. In the course of this decision, the court adopted the "market share" theory of liability which dictated in Sindell that nonidentifiable defendant-manufacturers of the generic drug DES would be liable for the damages in proportion to their share of business in the market. The author thoroughly examines various theories of recovery, such as "alternative liability," "concert of action" and "enterprise liability," which the court ...

Corporate Homicide: The Stark Realities Of Artificial Beings And Legal Fictions , Douglas S. Anderson

Pepperdine Law Review

In the aftermath of one of the most highly publicized trials in product liability annals-the celebrated Pinto case-the legal question raised by that litigation remains unresolved. Controversy continues as to whether a corporation should be convicted of homicide when it knowingly markets an unsafe product that results in death. Today the answer is a resounding "no", in light of state statutes defining homicide as the killing of one human being by another, difficulties in finding the requisite criminal intent; and the practical problems of placing a legal fiction behind bars. However, there are recent indications that these present obstacles to ...

Fixing The Vaccine Act's Structural Moral Hazard, Brandon L. Boxler

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The article presents information on the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. It discusses the U.S. Federal circuit case Hazlehurst v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., in which lawsuit against the defendant was filed by the plaintiff who sought claims against the liability of product to recover damages for alleged injuries which his son had received from vaccines. It also provides information on the structural moral hazard of the program which devolves it into a litigious adjudicatory process.

The Manville Corporation Bankruptcy: An Abuse Of The Judicial Process?, Mark Kunkler

Pepperdine Law Review

Federal bankruptcy law offers a refuge to the honest debtor who is unable to pay his creditor's when his debts are due. Here, the twin aims of bankruptcy law, to give the debtor a fresh start and to provide roughly equal treatment for his! Creditors, are laudably accomplished. But what policies support the use of federal bankruptcy law when the "debtor" is in fact solvent and apparently seeks refuge only to escape liability for the products it manufactures? This comment examines the recent filing of the Manville Corporation for Chapter 11 protection under bankruptcy law with this question in ...

Air Bag Litigation: Plaintiffs, Start Your Engines, Frank Waters

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Principals Of Comparative Fault In Light Of California's Proposition 51, James A. Gash

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Big Business Beware: Punitive Damages Do Not Violate Fourteenth Amendment According To Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. V. Haslip, Christopher V. Carlyle

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vaccines And The Law, Michael Sanzo Ph.D.

Pepperdine Law Review

The last twenty years have seen a sea-change in the area of proving causation in the toxic tort setting, with courts demanding stronger, scientifically tested evidence. At the same time, a closely related debate has been raging about separating cause from coincidence under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act compensation program for injuries that might have been the result of vaccinations. The Vaccine Act created a no-fault compensation fund financed by a tax on childhood vaccines to address harms resulting from those vaccines. Unfortunately, Congress gave little direction with regard to the level of causal certainty that would be required ...