Tobacco Litigation, E-Cigarettes, and the Cigarette Endgame
When
Office/Remote Location
Description
This talk featuring Professor Micah Berman will consider whether e-cigarettes might be considered a “reasonable alternative design” for purposes of products liability litigation against cigarette companies. After providing some background on e-cigarettes, it will review historical efforts by the tobacco industry to develop e-cigarette-like products. This history suggests that tobacco companies could have developed products similar to modern e-cigarettes decades ago, but they decided to abandon and hide these efforts precisely because they viewed e-cigarettes as a potential alternative to--or substitute for--cigarettes. Building on this historical background, this talk next will review products liability doctrine and assess whether plaintiffs could plausibly assert that e-cigarettes constitute a “reasonable alternative design” to cigarettes, and it will consider the benefits and risks of making such arguments in court from a tobacco control/public health perspective.
Price
Free
Admission Information
Open to the public
External Sponsor
UNLV Health Law Program and UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law