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.
Over one million women in America have had breast implants. Approximately 80 percent of breast implant surgeries are for cosmetic purposes. For years, many physicians, scientists, and researchers have believed that silicone breast implants cause autoimmune diseases in women who have them. While there has been no conclusive proof connecting breast implants with autoimmune disease, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study suggests an association between silicone gel and fibromyalgia when women’s breast implants rupture and silicone gel escapes into tissue.
Product liability occurs when the manufacturer or seller of a defective product allows that defective product to get into the hands of a consumer. When a manufacturer or seller misrepresents a product, that misrepresentation can be the basis for a product liability action. In the product liability context, misrepresentation occurs when product advertising, packaging, labels, or other product information available to consumers misrepresent material facts concerning the quality or use of the product.
Strict products liability is a legal doctrine that imposes liability for personal injury and property damage caused by defectively designed or manufactured products. The manufacturer or seller of such products is held responsible if the product injures a consumer who buys or uses the product.
In 1996, Dolly the sheep became the first large animal cloned from a bioengineered embryo that had been implanted in a ewe’s womb. It took 277 attempts before a viable lamb was born. Other animals have been cloned to date, but successful cloning has not occurred often and various abnormalities have been seen. In 1999, it was reported that DNA had been found in Dolly’s cells, which was typical of an older animal.
