Product liability trends

Despite the lack of data, it is possible to sketch a rough picture of product liability trends in the research-based pharmaceutical industry from a variety of sources that are incomplete by themselves, including trends in law and insurance markets, a few in-depth studies of product liability litigation in particular jurisdictions, and anecdotal accounts of products particularly vulnerable to liability claims ... 

Figure 1.10 Trend of product liability costs in the UK (Sturgis, 1992)...

The greatest impediment to understanding the effects of product liability on the drug R D process is the lack of evidence on trends in pharmaceutical liability cases. Data on court cases are limited because the legal system adjudicates only a small fraction of all product liability claims and because there is no... 

This research is limited. Variation between Cook County and San Francisco and between San Francisco and other California communities calls into question the representativeness of trends observed in these particular areas for product liability claims, suits, and awards to the country as a whole. 

I Overall Trends in Pharmaceutical Product Liability Litigation... 

In 1988, researchers at the Rand Corporation analyzed product liability cases filed in the Federal District Courts between 1974 and 1986 to identify trends in the number of cases over time and their concentration within particular industries and products (1 15). They focused on the Federal court system because of the availability of a single computerized data system. However, these data have several limitations ... 

The analysis found 85,694 different Federal product liability cases involving a total of 19,456 lead defendants. Pharmaceuticals and health care products represented 13.5 percent of the total cases but only 2.2 percent of the total number of defendants. Of the 11,292 suits for pharmaceutical and other health products filed, 72 percent are attributable to five fins, and 60 percent are attributable to two companies-A H. Robins and Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals.9Figures 7-1 and 7-2 show trends in these cases over time. 

SOURCE T. Dungwort h, Product Liability and the Business Sector Litigation Trends in Federal Courts (Santa Monica, CA The Rand Corporation, 1988). 

In 1988, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) published a study of its own examining trends in Federal product liability filings between... 

Schwartz, T. M., Products Liability Law and Pharmaceuticals Developments and Divergent Trends, Food Drug and Cosmetic Law Jour-nal 43 33,1988. 

The common law duty to warn is an area of the law where a court decision which was first thought to be an aberration is later seen as the start of a new trend. It can be a costly arena for the unwary manufacturer—in adverse damage awards, adverse publicity, and damaged reputation. Product liability in general is one of the fastest growing areas of the law, with an estimated... 

Since the Product Liability Directive was implemented, a trend toward American-style liability has resulted and civil lawsuits are on the rise in Europe. 

Industrial coatings are based on polymers much more diverse than those used in trade paints. Their trend toward water-based polymers is much slower because of a lower emotional factor and a higher product liability from hasty change. Nevertheless, the mounting prices of petrochemicals and of methane and alternate energy costs of curing films rapidly in a finishing line do imply selective trends toward water-... 

Information requests regarding recalls or safety alerts typically lead to analyses of a given company s or product s track record for the purpose of assessing quafity control, as well as potential legal liability or commercial vulnerability. Comparative recall data (numbers and class of severity) are also a component in industry benchmarking and trend-watching. 

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