| Intermediaries' Liability for Distributing Drugs and Medical Devices |
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| As a general rule, intermediaries (retailers, distributors, or wholesalers involved in distributing drugs and medical devices) have the same liability for a drug or medical device as the drug company that manufactured the product. Intermediaries that merely distribute the product can generally avoid liability, but distributors whose only activity involved unwrapping and rewrapping the products for sale to the retailer have been held liable. Some states have laws that prevent non-manufacturers from being held liable for injuries caused by defective products.
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| Possible Defendants in Product Liability Actions |
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| Product liability laws protect consumers from unsafe products. What happens if a consumer doesn't know who manufactures the product? Can anyone else be held liable? What about sellers, resellers, assemblers, and manufacturers of component parts? Can anyone in the product chain from conception to purchase be held liable for a product's defects? Can anyone in the product chain be held liable for all of the damages of an injured consumer?
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| Diet Drug Litigation - Fen-Phen |
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| It seemed like a miracle cure to many Americans battling obesity. "Fen-phen" -- a combination of the two diet drugs fenfluramine and phentermine -- was achieving great success in treating obesity. Both fenfluramine and phentermine had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, the use of the drugs in combination had not been FDA-approved and was being used "off-label." When it was determined that fenfluramine was linked to heart-valve damage, manufacturers voluntarily removed the drug fenfluramine from the market upon recommendation to do so by the FDA. Phentermine is still on the market as there have been no studies linking that drug to heart valve damage. The FDA recommended that patients who took the combination phen-fen consult their physicians about having an echocardiogram to determine whether heart valve damages has occurred. More... |
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| Jury Instructions in Products Liability Lawsuits |
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| The judge gives instructions to the jury (also called the jury charge) after both sides present their evidence at trial. The instructions tell the jury the law it must follow in reaching a verdict. The jury's function is to consider all the evidence and decide what happened. There are three separate types of claims in products liability lawsuits: strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. More... |
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| Public Policy Considerations Underlying Strict Products Liability |
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| Products liability deals with personal injury and property damage caused by products that are defective due to a design or manufacturing defect. Strict products liability is a legal doctrine that holds a manufacturer or seller responsible for making or selling a defective product, regardless of fault, if the product injures a purchaser or user or his/her prope More... |
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