Overview

The piecemeal developments in product liability reform in Europe have their origins in the tragic association of phocomelia in children with thalidomide in 1962. In many ways these events have continued to generate pressure for reform of product liability, especially for the victims of drug-induced injury. This monograph attempts to address the major problems that typify claims for drug-induced injury, as well as highlighting the complex interrelationship between liability exposure and drug regulation. While medicinal products are subject to strict liability under the product liability directive, the claimant may have considerable difficulty in establishing that the relevant product is defective and that it caused the damage. It may also be necessary to overcome the development risk defence where this is pleaded. The monograph addresses these problems on a comparative jurisprudential basis, and seeks to determine whether medicinal products should be treated as a special case in the field of product liability. It examines the role of epidemiological evidence in assessing causation in product liability cases concerning medicinal products in the light of recent developments in the UK Supreme Court, the United States, Canada and France. In particular, it addresses the difficulties in reconciling the standards of proof in law and science, including the theory that causation can be proved on the balance of probabilities by reference to the doubling of risk of injury. An important case study compares and contrasts the approaches of the UK and the US to the measles, mumps, rubella Litigation. The book also examines the question as to whether compliance with regulatory standards should protect pharmaceutical manufacturers from product liability suits. It seeks to support a via media whereby the victims of drug induced injury can receive justice, while at the same time encouraging drug safety and innovation in drug development.

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Goldberg ,  Goldberg
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Hart Publishing
Dimensions:   Width: 17.10cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 24.40cm
Weight:   0.590kg
ISBN:  

9781841132518

ISBN 10:   1841132519
Pages:   242
Publication Date:   10 October 2013
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Medicinal Product Liability in Context I. Introduction II. Historical Background: A Special Case? The Unique Characteristics of Medicinal Products III. Position Under the Product Liability Directive and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 IV. Vaccine Damage V. European Pharmaceutical Product Liability Regimes VI. Reform VII. Conclusion 2. Defective Medicinal Products in the US and UK: An Overview I. Introduction II. Defective Medicinal Products in the US III. Defective Medicinal Products in the UK IV. Conclusion 3. Design Defects and Medicinal Products I. Introduction II. Design Defects and Pharmaceutical Products: The US Experience III. Design Defects and Pharmaceutical Products Under the Product Liability Directive IV. Reform: A Net Benefit Approach to Drug Design Defects or Combined Consumer-Expectations Risk-Utility V. Conclusion 4. Warning and Instruction Defects and Medicinal Products I. Introduction II. Warning and Instruction Defects and Pharmaceutical Products: The US Experience III. Warning and Instruction Defects and Pharmaceutical Products Under the Product Liability Directive IV. Conclusions 5. Causation, Risk and Epidemiological Evidence in Medicinal Product Liability Litigation: Law's Coming of Age I. Introduction II. Reconciling the Standards of Proof in Law and Science in the UK III. Conclusions 6. The Rise and Fall of the MMR Litigation: A Comparative Perspective I. Introduction II. Background: The Vaccines and Autism Controversy III. UK MMR Litigation IV. The US Omnibus Autism Proceeding Test Cases V. A French Comparison: The Liberal French Approach to Hepatitis B Vaccine and Demyelinating Diseases Using Presumptions of Causation VI. MMR and the General Medical Council VII. Conclusion 7. Regulatory Compliance and Medicinal Product Liability I. Introduction II. Compliance with Common Practice Regulatory and Statutory Standards III. Defect Attributable to Mandatory Statutory or Community Requirements IV. Federal Preemption and Prescription Drugs V. A Regulatory Compliance Defence for Medicinal Products VI. Conclusion 8. The Development Risk Defence and Medicinal Products I. Nature and Scope of the Defence II. Infringement Proceedings in the European Court of Justice: Commission v United Kingdom III. European Commission Reform Proposals IV. Defects Which Might be Expected to be Discovered V. The Meaning and Implications of Scientific and Technical Knowledge VI. Defects Which are Known of, but Undetectable in any Particular Case VII. Conclusion 9. Conclusion

Reviews

...the book can be strongly recommended to everyone interested in this important and rapidly evolving compartment of the law. -- Ken Oliphant Yearbook of European Tort Law

Author Information

Richard Goldberg is Professor of Law at Durham University.

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