Unit 4: Chapter 8 Product Liability and Consumers

evolved

The legal liability of manufacturers for injuries caused by defective products has ________ over the years.

strict liability

Today the courts have moved to the doctrine of ____ , which holds the manufacturer of a product responsible for injuries suffered as a result of defects in the product, regardless of whether the manufacturer was negligent.

broad

Government agencies have ______ powers to regulate product safety.

riskier

Critics of gov regulation, like Huber, contend that these regulations are costly and that they prevent individuals from choosing to purchase a ______ but less expensive product.

freedom

Huber's argument on gov regulation touches on the controversy over legal paternalism, the doctrine that the law may justifiably be used to restrict the ______ of individuals for their own good.

legal paternalism

the idea that the law may justifiably be used to restrict the freedom of individuals for their own good

priority

To increase safety, companies need to give safety the _______ necessitated by the product

misuse

To increase safety, companies need to abandon the misconception that accidents are solely the result of consumer ______

monitor

To increase safety, companies need to ______ closely the manufacturing process

advertising

To increase safety, companies need to review the safety implications of their marketing and ________ strategies

information

To increase safety, companies need to provide consumers with full ________ about product performance

complaints

To increase safety, companies need to investigate consumer ______.

other

business also has ___ obligations to consumers

quality

business obligation: Product _______ must live up to express and implied warranties

just

business obligation: prices should be ____

price fixing

business obligation: business should refrain from manipulative pricing and the use of _______ to avoid competition

accurate

business obligation: product labeling and packaging should provide clear, _______, and adequate information

Ford Pinto Case

in the 1960s and early 1970s, firetrap engineering of gas tanks on Ford Pintos resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of victims (fixable design flaw)

facts

to make an ethical decision: 1: identify the relevant ____

issues

to make an ethical decision: 2.: Identify the pertinent ethical _____/points of ethical conflict.

affected

to make an ethical decision: 3: Identify relevant ______ parties.

consequences

to make an ethical decision: 4: Identify the possible _________ of alternative courses of action.

relevant

to make an ethical decision: 5: Identify ______ obligations.

integrity

to make an ethical decision: 6: Identify your relevant community standards that should guide you as a person of _______.

decision

to make an ethical decision: 7: make your ______