Legislative Folly in North Carolina
A few comments on portions of the so-called “tort reform” bills now in the North Carolina legislature being pushed by lawmakers who are supported by the insurance industry.
The product liability portion of the current legislation is setting up a constitutional challenge in the aviation area. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 and cases say that the federal regulations as to aircraft are “minimum standards” and do not establish a level or guarantee of safety. Every aircraft design is approved, to various degrees, by the federal authorities. But there are federal cases saying that these approvals, and the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR’s) themselves, are not determinative of the legal safety of a design (that’s my summary of 40 years of case law—there are exceptions). I have not fully thought this all through, but it seems to me that this provides ample constitutional and preemptive challenges to be in the courts for years. Read the rest of this entry »
Labels: Defensive Medicine, Manufacturer Airplane Design, NC Tort Reform, Unnecessary Medical TestingPosted by 8:21 pm