We are constantly hearing about product recalls warning the public of products that turned out to have design flaws or unexpected problems. However, a more troubling fact is that many corporations know their products can cause serious injury or death and sell them anyway, even when there is an easy and inexpensive solution that will make the product safer.
The American Association for Justice has recently issued a report documenting true stories of corporations that knowingly sold defective products to American consumers and the devastating consequences caused by these products. Here are a few of these shocking true stories.
• A pharmaceutical company that discovers that its drug causes severe side effects in pediatric patients…and then spends hundreds of millions of dollars marketing to children.
• A company that discovers its medical device is little more than a bomb waiting to go off in people’s hearts…and then decides not to tell anyone.
• A car company that discovers that if it does not spend $11 dollars per car to fix a defect, hundreds of people will be horribly burned…and decides it would be cheaper to let them burn.
• A company that discovers its bulletproof vests are defective…and then sells them anyway to be worn by law enforcement, the military, and the President of the United States.
The disturbing true stories in this report illustrate the need for the American Civil Justice System. Many giant corporations and insurance companies are currently lobbying Congress for “Tort Reform” to limit access to the courthouse and insulate them from liability when their products injure and kill. The Civil Justice System is needed to detect such outrageous behavior and deter it in the future.