Bass, Berry & Sims attorneys Jessie Zeigler, Sarah Miller and Olivia Seraphim authored an article for Defense Counsel Journal examining recent developments and lawsuits related to product warning labels. The article outlines various requirements imposed by regulations and court rulings that sometimes conflict with each other leaving manufacturers open to liability. In this environment, “Manufacturers face complex and conflicting laws concerning what qualifies as an adequate warning sufficient to protect them from liability for failure-to-warn.”
The authors cite several examples to demonstrate the often conflicting and complex regulations. For example, in Tennessee, “Manufacturers may be liable for warning consumers against the risks associated not only with their own products, or even with products that are required for use of their products, but even with products that could foreseeably be used with their own products.” However, warn the authors, this “over-warning” can dilute the impact of more relevant product warnings. This Tennessee ruling is presently under review by the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The full article, “Warning: Additional Warnings May Be Required,” was published April 30 by the Defense Counsel Journal and is available online. Defense Counsel Journal is the publication of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC).