Some Liability Issues

The fallout from the Icelandic volcano in April 2010 brought to bear yet another burden on the airline industry and issues and questions on responsibility for 

The task force will comprise representatives from Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S., where the world s nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers are located, as well as Brazil, for its role in commercial aircraft production, and Spain, which currently holds the European Union presidency. 

Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, ICJ Reports, 1996, p. 64. p. 79. 

The plumes of a volcano are filled with abrasive siUca based material which could cause engines to be clogged and windscreens to be sandblasted. In addition, pulverized rock in the volcanic emission is powerful enough to strip away paint, 

Airlines argue case, Airspace opens, The Air Letter, No. 16,970, Tuesday 20 April 2010 at 1. http //www.airtransportnews.aero/print article.pl id=23057. 

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Some companies are already using substitution as a means of eliminating hazardous chemicals from their businesses, (see Annex I) A variety of reasons exist for why some companies are searching for safer substitutes and these include regulatory drivers (such as the recent Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances), increased public awareness, demands from downstream users or clients, worker protection, liability issues, competitive advantage and company ethics. However, there are also barriers and the development and adoption of safer substitutes is happening only slowly, in a piecemeal fashion and in some sectors not at all. 

By October, 1980, Superfund had bogged down in the Senate over the extent of clean-up issues and liability issues. The White House attempted to get the legislation moving again by holding a series of meetings at the White House involving EPA, the Justice Department, industry representatives and some of the Senate Staff. Extent of clean-up was a major subject of these discussions. 

In the domain where physician and patient meet, the question is whether a physician will adopt the tools. To some extent this depends on the type of information that the rules refer to (blood tests come later physicians like their ancient predecessors start with noticing skin, hair, eyes, locution, etc.— so the rules we present should be built from databases that include that data). If the rules start with blood test results, the rules are less likely to be adopted. If the technology is effective and could be easily used, failure to use the tools may start to pose liability issues. At that point physicians are more likely to adopt the technology. 

When, despite the existing quality assurance system, deficiencies occur, then liability issues arise. Some legal terms wiU be briefly clarified below since they will be used in the discussion that follows. 

There have been a wider variety of cases at all levels dealing with the regulation of firearms and, more recently, with civil liability of firearm manufacturers or dealers. However, because there are so many constitutional and civil issues involved in gun control litigation, the following list breaks down the decisions by topic. (Note that some cases involve more than one topic.) Cases under each topic are listed in chronological order. 

Other issues heyond organization affect the available supply of vaccines. These include the industrial base of the vaccine industry and the economic incentives required to ensure an adequate supply. The number of major vaccine producers is few vaccines make up a smaller portion of producers revenues than drugs do and the strength of the industry is a matter of some concern. Crucial economic incentives include the size of the market, questions of liability, intellectual property, and the costs of complying with FDA regulations. 

The issuance of the batch record for operational use (either in production or research) is usually a step that is not controlled to sufficient levels. Most organizations have the batch records issued by the quality unit (which is the preferred practice), but little attention is placed on the procedure. Some firms have multiple reproductions of the master production record maintained in a file for easy and quick issuance to operations. This practice can have flaws in that extra safety precautions have to be taken when the master production record is updated. Serious errors can occur if a system is not in place to verify that the current revision is utilized. It is highly recommended that copies not be maintained ahead of the time of actual issuance due to the liabilities involved in these critical documents. 

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