::: True stories of corp's that knew their products were dangerous & failed to tell customers :::
A non-exhaustive collection of stories about corporations that knew their products were dangerous, sometimes deadly, but chose not to do anything about it - or worse, actively hid the evidence that the product was dangerous to consumers...
These are examples of where the civil justice system (aka tort law) helped bring the truth to light and, in many cases, helped prevent additional death/danger.
For example (defective bullet-proof vests):::
In June of 2003, 27-year-old Oceanside, CA, police officer Tony Zeppetella got up early to spend a few precious hours with his 6-month-old son Jakob before leaving for work. He would never return home from his shift. Zeppetella pulled over a car during a routine traffic stop later that day. When he stepped to the car’s window, a gang member inside shot him with a stolen Ruger handgun. The bullet penetrated Zeppetella’s bullet proof vest and hit him in the chest, severing an artery. Zeppetella returned fire but eventually died from his wounds. Soon after his death it would come to light that the manufacturer of the bullet proof vest had known for years that its products were defective, but the company had decided not to warn its customers.
Executives at Second Chance Body Armor knew as early as 1998 that the Zylon material in its vests that was supposed to be durable enough to stop a bullet was suffering from degradation problems that could render the vests penetrable. [...] In a memo dated 2002, company president Richard Davis outlined one of the company’s “options,” which included “operating as though nothing is wrong until one of our customers is killed or wounded.”
Second Chance did not warn its customers until September 2003, when it recalled 130,000 vests. In 2005, Second Chance recalled a further 98,000 vests, but even then did not recall all of its Zylon products because it claimed it did not have enough money to replace them.
(emphasis added)
Follow the link below to see more stories where companies "knew and failed to"... Other products discussed include super-absorbent tampons, contact lens solution, tires, peanuts, poultry, beef, cribs, heart defibrillators, heart valves, and prescription drugs (e.g. trasylol, avandia, zyprexa, seroquel, ortho evra, paxil)...
http://www.justice.org/clips/TheyKnewAndFailedTo.pdf
These are examples of where the civil justice system (aka tort law) helped bring the truth to light and, in many cases, helped prevent additional death/danger.
For example (defective bullet-proof vests):::
In June of 2003, 27-year-old Oceanside, CA, police officer Tony Zeppetella got up early to spend a few precious hours with his 6-month-old son Jakob before leaving for work. He would never return home from his shift. Zeppetella pulled over a car during a routine traffic stop later that day. When he stepped to the car’s window, a gang member inside shot him with a stolen Ruger handgun. The bullet penetrated Zeppetella’s bullet proof vest and hit him in the chest, severing an artery. Zeppetella returned fire but eventually died from his wounds. Soon after his death it would come to light that the manufacturer of the bullet proof vest had known for years that its products were defective, but the company had decided not to warn its customers.
Executives at Second Chance Body Armor knew as early as 1998 that the Zylon material in its vests that was supposed to be durable enough to stop a bullet was suffering from degradation problems that could render the vests penetrable. [...] In a memo dated 2002, company president Richard Davis outlined one of the company’s “options,” which included “operating as though nothing is wrong until one of our customers is killed or wounded.”
Second Chance did not warn its customers until September 2003, when it recalled 130,000 vests. In 2005, Second Chance recalled a further 98,000 vests, but even then did not recall all of its Zylon products because it claimed it did not have enough money to replace them.
(emphasis added)
Follow the link below to see more stories where companies "knew and failed to"... Other products discussed include super-absorbent tampons, contact lens solution, tires, peanuts, poultry, beef, cribs, heart defibrillators, heart valves, and prescription drugs (e.g. trasylol, avandia, zyprexa, seroquel, ortho evra, paxil)...
http://www.justice.org/clips/TheyKnewAndFailedTo.pdf