Products Verdict Median Hits $1 Million
Asbestos still a big-ticket problem, but transportation products top the list
While asbestos products have been a major source of problems for products liability insurers, juries awarded more money to people hurt by planes, trucks and automobiles, according to a recent report.
In fact, damage caused by malfunctioning auto parts–bringing a median compensatory damage award of $4 million over the last 10 years–drove the overall median for all types of products to $1 million, up from a previous level of $700,000, according to figures compiled by Jury Verdict Research in Horsham, Pa.
JVR's August report–"Products Liability: An Overview of Jury Awards and Settlements"–presents median compensatory jury awards from verdicts rendered nationwide from April 1995 through April 2005 (excluding billion-dollar verdicts) for nearly 80 separate product categories. The prior JVR report, published in January 2004, had analyzed verdicts from 1993-2002 to come up with the $700,000 median figure.
A comparison of the two reports reveals that the award median for transportation products nearly doubled, coming in at $2.7 million in the latest report, compared to $1.4 million in the prior study.
Defective auto seats, seat belts and tires fueled the transportation jump, with the median award for automobiles and parts coming in at $4 million, compared to $3.1 million in the prior report.
Asbestos-containing industrial, construction and commercial products brought a smaller median verdict of $1.5 million during the most recent study period, but even that was higher than the comparable median of $1 million that JVR came up with for the prior period studied.
Medians for individual product categories varied widely–from $11,000 for cases involving restaurant food to the $4 million median for auto parts. Drugs and vaccines fell in the middle, with a median of nearly $2 million.
Included in the 67-page report are award ranges for each product category. The auto product verdicts, for example, extend from a low of $13,090 to a high of $285 million.
Besides compensatory award medians and ranges, the report includes plaintiff recovery probabilities, with asbestos-containing products and airplanes exhibiting the highest recovery percentages (ratios of plaintiff verdicts to defense verdicts) at 71 percent for asbestos and 84 percent for airplanes and helicopters.
At the opposite end of the scale, plaintiff recovery percentages for cases involving ladders, water heaters, propane gas tanks, ski equipment and disposable lighters fell in the mid-teens. Some types of auto parts also resulted in low plaintiff recoveries, with defective cruise control parts resulting in plaintiff verdicts only 20 percent of the time.
While the statistics presented in the JVR report relate to compensatory damage awards only, punitive damage and other components are set forth in a sampling of product cases that are individually described in detail.
Cases described include small ones, such as a $407 award for a restaurant patron who developed an allergic reaction when he was served clam chowder instead of potato soup, to huge ones that include a $34 million verdict related to a truck accident.
The report also shows that 14 percent of all compensation awards in product liability cases were in the $1-to-$2 million range, while 5 percent exceeded $20 million.
Flag: By The Numbers
Head: What Are The Biggest Risks?
Caption:
Jury verdicts in auto-parts and drug cases are the most likely to come in over $1 million, according to the latest product liability report by Jury Verdict Research.
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