Products are safer because of civil law suits

Staff Writer

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Many of the products that we use today are safer because of law suits that have been brought against the manufacturers in the past. Every garage door opener now includes a 15¢ part that causes it to reverse if it hits an object or a child while descending. That 15¢ part was not added until after a garage door manufacturer was successfully sued for the death of a child. Ford used to manufacture a car called the Pinto, which was poorly designed and had a tendency to burst into flames when struck from the rear. Only after Ford was hit with a large punitive damage award was the design changed. Children's pajamas are now treated with flame retardant chemicals because of a one million dollar punitive damage award against a manufacturer for a child who was burned. Women were dying from toxic shock syndrome after using super-absorbent tampons. This deadly product was removed from the market after a ten million dollar award. Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of Tylenol, knew this product could destroy people's livers when mixed with alcohol. Only after an 8.8 million dollar verdict against Johnson & Johnson did the company put warnings on the product. Try and imagine how dangerous buying products would be without the threat of lawsuits against manufacturers who knowingly manufacture and sell dangerous products.