Law Commons^™

Decoding U.S. Tort Liability In Healthcare's Black-Box Ai Era: Lessons From The European Union, Mindy Duffourc, Sara Gerke

Faculty Scholarly Works

The rapid development of sophisticated artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools in healthcare presents new possibilities for improving medical treatment and general health. Currently, such AI tools can perform a wide range of health-related tasks, from specialized autonomous systems that diagnose diabetic retinopathy to general-use generative models like ChatGPT that answer users’ health-related questions. On the other hand, significant liability concerns arise as medical professionals and consumers increasingly turn to AI for health information. This is particularly true for black-box AI because while potentially enhancing the AI’s capability and accuracy, these systems also operate without transparency, making it difficult or even impossible …

Standards And The Law, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

The world of standards and the world of laws are often seen as separate, but they are more closely intertwined than many professionals working with laws or standards realize. Although standards are typically considered to be voluntary and non-binding, they can intersect with and affect the law in numerous ways. They can serve as benchmarks for determine liability in tort or contract. They can facilitate domestic and international transactions. They can prompt negotiations over the licensing of patents. They can govern the development of forensic evidence admissible in criminal courts. And standards can even become binding law themselves when they …

Optimizing Cybersecurity Risk In Medical Cyber-Physical Devices, Christopher S. Yoo, Bethany Lee

All Faculty Scholarship

Medical devices are increasingly connected, both to cyber networks and to sensors collecting data from physical stimuli. These cyber-physical systems pose a new host of deadly security risks that traditional notions of cybersecurity struggle to take into account. Previously, we could predict how algorithms would function as they drew on defined inputs. But cyber-physical systems draw on unbounded inputs from the real world. Moreover, with wide networks of cyber-physical medical devices, a single cybersecurity breach could pose lethal dangers to masses of patients.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with regulating medical devices to ensure safety and …

Beyond Section 230 Liability For Facebook, Nancy S. Kim

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In October 2021, a former Facebook employee, Frances Haugen, publicly revealed that the company's internal research documented harms that its products caused some of its users. The company’s response was sadly predictable. It questioned the reliability of Haugen’s testimony, asserted its commitment to doing the right thing, and then diverted the public’s attention by changing its name to Meta. The company’s deny-and-distract tactics were, by now, all too familiar and provided few answers.

More than any other platform company, Facebook has found itself at the center of controversy. Its advertisement-supported business model relies upon user engagement which means that …

Caveat Venditor: Products Liability And Genetically Modified Foods, Kristopher A. Isham

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have become a lightning rod for conflict between farmers, corporations, shareholders, government agencies, and other concerned groups. Supporters tout GMOs as a solution to the problems of diminishing returns from traditional crop plants and the rising demand for greater quantities of food. Opponents critcize GMOs for potential toxic and allergic reactions in humans, loss of biodiversity, and pesticide and antibiotic resistance in other plants and insects. As the understanding of potential applications of biotechnology broadens, the risks and benefits of such products are being scrutinized more closely.

Fattening Food: Should Purveyors Of Fast Food Be Required To Warn? A Call For A New Tort, Charles E. Cantu

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Being overweight continues to be an important issue for many Americans. The latest diet fad is likely to include at least one title on the current bestseller list, and newspapers carry daily articles on the most recent study regarding risks related to obesity. Heeding these concerns, the federal government has added its own impetus by requiring the packaged food industry to list, not only nutritional information, but also calories. Individuals alleging injury and seeking recourse have made an attempt to place fault upon purveyors of fast food. To date, American jurisprudence has not helped. The courts have suggested that, from …

Limiting Limited Liability: Requiring More Than Mere Subsequence Under Federal Rule Of Evidence 407, Cynara Hermes Mcquillan

Scholarly Works

Rule 407 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the “Subsequent Remedial Measures” Rule, is troubling. This exclusionary rule of evidence prohibits using subsequent remedial measures to demonstrate negligence, culpable conduct, or product defect. But, other than in the title of the rule, the phrase “subsequent remedial measures” does not appear anywhere in the rule’s text and the rule itself does not expressly define what measures fall within its purview. This omission creates space for different judicial interpretations of the rule’s language and ultimately disparate judicial outcomes. Although the Federal Rules of Evidence lend themselves to fact-specific inquiries that can lead …

Product Liability Action: A Tooth To Strengthen Consumer Protection, Ashok R. Patil

Articles

As the world shifts to technological advancements, the advent of e-commerce marks its peak, particularly in India, where it has been earmarked as the fastest growing market with an annual growth rate of 51%. While these developments are an important part of globalization, a few challenges come along. Issues like unfair contracts, privacy, data protection, faulty goods, refund or return remained unaddressed as the earlier existing Consumer Protection Act, 1986 did not elucidate on the same. Given the above, the Law Commission of India had recommended that a separate law be enacted for better consumer protection. Based on the recommendations …

Fit For Its Ordinary Purpose: Implied Warranties And Common Law Duties For Consumer Finance Contracts, Susan Block-Lieb, Edward J. Janger

Faculty Scholarship

The history of consumer goods and consumer credit markets pre-sents an anomaly: market transactions for consumer goods and credit transactions evolved in tandem from face to face and bespoke to standardized and widely distributed; the law governing these “product” markets has not. With consumer goods, the Uniform Commercial Code codifies implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, and the common law of tort provides strict liability for defective products. With consumer fi-nance contracts, borrowers enjoy scant common law protection. And yet both consumer goods and consumer contracts may be danger-ously defective “products.”

This Article reconsiders the traditional, …

Strictly Speaking, What Needs To Change? A Review Of How Statutory Changes Could Bring Strict Products Liability To Virginia, Ryan C. Fowle

Law Student Publications

Virginia remains one of five states that refuse to adopt strict products liability. To date, the Supreme Court of Virginia has declined to follow the path Justice Traynor set out nearly a century ago, as its recent decisions confirm its resistance to strict liability. However, given the change in control of the General Assembly following the elections of 2017 and 2019, the General Assembly is in new hands and may remain that way for some time. This new legislative majority, among its plans for new policies, may soon consider establishing strict products liability by statute. In doing so, Virginia would …

Held Accountable: Should Gun Manufacturers Be Held Liable For The Criminal Use Of Their Products, Benjamin Caryan

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This comment starts with a review of the most stringent laws currently enacted. After going over what is enacted, it will discuss the reasons given as to why gun manufacturers should be held liable and under what theories, including tort liability and public nuisance theories. Next, it will cover novel approaches to the strict liability, including arguments like negligent distribution, entrustment, and marketing. It will discuss similarities between the tobacco, automobile, and alcohol industry with the firearms industry. It will then go over how the recent push for gun legislation affected the sale and purchase of firearms. Lastly, to summarize, …

Misuse Of The "Reasonably Anticipated Use" Standard In Louisiana Products Liability Act Jurisprudence, Steven E. Spires

Louisiana Law Review

The article examines the application of the 'reasonably anticipated use' standard in Louisiana Products Liability Act (LPLA) jurisprudence, and offers proposed jurisprudential rules that should be adopted by the Louisiana Supreme Court to guide lower courts on the standard.

Responses To Liability Immunization: Evidence From Medical Devices, Elissa P. Gentry, Benjamin J. Mcmichael

Scholarly Publications

The Supreme Court's decision in Riegel v. Medtronic immunized medical device manufacturers from certain types of state product liability claims. However, this immunization applies only when the devices underlying those claims have been approved through the Food and Drug Administration's most rigorous-and costly-review process, premarket approval (PMA). Exploiting this decision, we examine whether manufacturers strategically respond to this new immunity. We find evidence that, following Riegel, approvals for highrisk product categories increase relative to the comparable change for low-risk categories, suggesting that firms are sensitive to the newly immunized risk. We additionally find evidence that physician treatment patterns with respect …

The Resurrection Of The Consumer Expectations Test: A Regression In American Products Liability, Tiffany Colt

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Structure Of Torts, Thomas C. Galligan Jr.

Journal Articles

Tort law consists of a number of different causes of action which are seemingly unrelated except that all involve civil wrongs, other than mere breaches of contract. The various torts have different elements; some, like the nominate or intentional torts, very specific; others, like negligence, more general and vague. There is no apparent, coherent, or consistent structure applicable to all torts. This Article articulates just such a unified structure for all torts: one that arises out of and is based upon the elements of negligence. All torts involve the judicial delineation of the defendant's duty or legal obligation. All torts …

The Road To Autonomy, Michelle Sellwood

San Diego Law Review

[T]his Comment discusses the background of AI and robotics, the technology behind the autonomous vehicle, and the evolution of products liability laws. Part III examines current regulations, the benefits of autonomous technology, and the need for a definitive liability framework. Part IV discusses why current tort liability laws will be ineffective in governing autonomous vehicle liability by examining the shift in liability from the driver to the owner and manufacturer. Part V proposes a short-term solution by attributing liability to the programmer, while software is still hard-coded. Finally, Part VI explores legal personhood, and proposes that the autonomous vehicle be …

Mass Torts—Maturation Of Law And Practice, Paul D. Rheingold

Pace Law Review

Mass tort litigation has been with us for about fifty years. This is dating the start from the MER/29 litigation in 1964. This field of law and practice has grown year after year, and it shows no sign of abating. At the same time, it can be said that this area of law and procedure has reached a mature stage; the practice is fairly standardized and earlier experiments have either become the model or have been abandoned.

The term “mass tort litigation” (MTL), as used in this article, confines itself to product liability personal injury cases involving similar injuries from …

A Generic A Day Keeps The Lawyer Away, Cara Brumfield

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Improving The Effectiveness Of South Korean Product Liability Including Punitive Damages: A Comparative Analysis Between The United States And South Korea, Minsung Kim

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

As South Korean Product Liability Act was revised to adopt the U.S. doctrine of punitive damages, there is a theoretical necessity of reviewing the relations between the theory of product liability and the U.S. doctrine of punitive damages. The theory of product liability is closely related to the strict liability but the doctrine of punitive damages has been developed to regulate malicious misconducts. Due to the different basic concepts, the strict liability and malicious misconducts, the theory of product liability might not include the doctrine of punitive damages. In addition to the compatibility issue, functions of the punitive damages are …

Taking A Second Look At Mdl Product Liability Settlements: Somebody Needs To Do It, Christopher B. Mueller

Publications

This Article examines the forces that lead to the settlement of product liability cases gathered under the MDL statute for pretrial. The MDL procedure is ill-suited to this use, and does not envision the gathering of the underlying cases as a means of finally resolving them. Motivational factors affecting judges and lawyers have produced these settlements, and the conditions out of which they arise do not give confidence that they are fair or adequate. This Article concedes that MDL settlements are likely here to stay, and argues that we need a mechanism to check such settlements for fairness and adequacy. …

Discrimination And Business Regulation, Eileen Kaufman

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Product Liability Of Manufacturers: An Understanding And Exploration, Donald M. Jenkins

Akron Law Review

The beginning point will be an examination of the existing theories of manufacturer's liability namely, negligence, contract warranty and strict liability. For example purposes, Ohio law will be used to illustrate the interpretative development of the law and its application. Ohio is a legitimate jurisdiction for this purpose. It has been a pace-setting jurisdiction in the development of the law and has arrived at the point of accepting the concept of strict liability for defective products. Furthermore, the evolution of product liability law in Ohio typifies the pattern that has occurred or is occurring in a majority of the other …

The Product Liability Of Manufacturers: An Understanding And Exploration, Donald M. Jenkins

Akron Law Review

The evolution and application of product liability law in the past fifteen years represents one of the most dynamic developments in law.

The result of these rapid and violent developments has been to substantially increase the susceptibility of producers to suits by members of the public in direct actions. It was assumed the crest of the wave of expanded product liability was reached with the formulation of the legal principles set forth in Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of the Law of Torts. However, subsequent court actions proved this assumption to be invalid.

Manufacturer And Professional User's Liability For Defective Medical Equipment, Rosemary Rubin

Akron Law Review

One particular area of product liability, however, has been slow to accept strict liability. In the field of medical devices and equipment the courts seem reluctant to find liability without a clear showing of negligence, whether the defendant is the doctor, the hospital, or the manufacturer of the product. In this paper the focus will be on the emerging law in this area regarding medical equipment made only for use by experts, including nurses, doctors, dentists, anesthesiologists, emergency personnel and hospitals. The discussion will exclude blood and drug cases for these lead to conclusions of their own. The concentration will …

A Case Of Judicial Chutzpah (The Judicial Adoption Of Strict Tort Products Liability Theory), Morris G. Shanker

Akron Law Review

[O]ur courts in discovering strict tort have indeed acted in rather unusual ways: ways which, I believe, can be explained only by realizing that we are dealing with those who have just discovered the gospel, who have just heard a message from on High. Let me give you some specific examples.

Liability For Product Design In Ohio - A First Step Toward Solution, Edgar A. Strause, James H. Hedden

Akron Law Review

This article concerns an area of the law of strict liability in tort which is now emerging from an embryonic stage in Ohio - namely, a manufacturer's liability for conscious design choices in developing its product. It is the thesis of this article that in the recent case of Temple v. Wean United, Inc., the Ohio Supreme Court has taken a major step toward a solution to the inherent difficulties in passing judgment upon the reasonableness of a manufacturer's conscious design choices. In doing so, the court has simultaneously lessened the otherwise open-ended exposure of manufacturers to liability concerning …

Des And The Identification Problem, Barry S. Roberts, Charles F. Royster

Akron Law Review

This article will examine the history of this drug, how it was used and regulated as well as the subsequent legal turmoil and the proffered resolutions to the quandary. The impact of these theories and of proposals to "further strengthen product liability laws as a substitute for direct government intervention"' will also be studied.

Product Liability - Can It Kick The Smoking Habit?, William Kepko

Akron Law Review

This comment, divided into two major sections, will review the reasons for past inability to collect damages from the tobacco industry and explore possible theories of recovery that may be advanced in the new round of pending litigation.

A New Private Action In Products Liability: Swenson V. Emerson Electric Co., Stephen Griffin

Akron Law Review

By the late 1960's, statistics revealed that a total of twenty million people were injured or killed annually in consumer product-related accidents. Congress reacted by establishing a committee to investigate the adequacy of consumer protection against unreasonable risks caused by hazardous household products. This committee concluded that producers of hazardous products are in the best position to safeguard consumers against injury, but found that many producers lacked motivation to engage in meaningful self-regulation. Consequently, they recommended the creation of a federal regulatory agency.

Congress responded by enacting the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), and by establishing the Consumer Product Safety …

Flaugher V. Cone Automatic Machine Co.: The Ending Of A Trend In Successor Liability Or A Minor Setback For Product Liability Claimants?, Bryan J. Green

Akron Law Review

This Casenote analyzes the recent Ohio Supreme Court decision in Flaugher v. Cone Automatic Machine Co. to evaluate both its impact on the field of successor corporate liability and the opinion's fundamental soundness. The Flaugher court identified three issues: (1) whether the facts demanded application of one of the traditional exceptions to the rule of successor non-liability, (2) whether the court should adopt the "product line" theory of liability, and (3) whether the defendant corporations had a duty to warn plaintiff of the alleged defect in the machine which injured her. The court affirmed the lower court's decision by …