Using Litigation to Make Public Health Policy: Theoretical and Empirical Challenges in Assessing Product Liability, Tobacco, and Gun Litigation

Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 32 (4):556-564 (2004)
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Abstract

In recent years, a number of prominent scholars have touted the use of litigation as an effective tool for making public health policy. For example, Stephen Teret and Michael Jacobs have asserted that product liability claims against car makers have played a significant role in reducing automobile-related injuries, Peter Jacobson and Kenneth Warner have argued that litigation against cigarette manufacturers has advanced the cause of tobacco control, and Phil Cook and Jens Ludwig have suggested that lawsuits against the firearms industry can reduce gun violence. Critics have attacked this use of litigation as doing more harm than good to public health and as a misuse of the courts. This debate involves two distinct controversies: one over whether the public health benefits of litigation outweigh its costs and the other over the proper role of courts within our system of government.

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References found in this work

Litigation as Public Health Policy: Theory or Reality?Peter D. Jacobson & Soheil Soliman - 2002 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 30 (2):224-238.
Litigation as Public Health Policy: Theory or Reality?Peter D. Jacobson & Soheil Soliman - 2002 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 30 (2):224-238.
Prevention and Torts: The Role of Litigation in Injury Control.Stephen P. Teret & Michael Jacobs - 1989 - Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 17 (1):17-22.

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