Assignment:
Read the Jumpstarter case.
In the late nineties, Jumpstarter, Inc. became aware that its product Jumpstart I-- a pacemaker designed to regulate heartbeat within the body -- had begun to fail when the temperature rose to above normal body temperature. The company asked hospitals with unused units of Jumpstart I to return them for credit and advised doctors to remove any Jumpstarter I products that had been implanted in patients.
Bob Hartley required several major open chest surgeries to correct problems that occurred because of the Jumpstart I. After settlement negotiations broke down, Hartley sued Jumpstarter, Inc. Hartley claimed that the Jumpstart I could have been made safer through inexpensive tests and use of an alternative design.
b. Defendants: What defenses can you assert for Jumpstarter Inc.?
Be sure to support your arguments with facts from the case and legal theories from your text.
Lau & Johnson, Torts pages 199 to 231 in Business and the Legal and Ethical Environment,
link to Business and the Legal and Ethical Environment
Mayer, Warner, Siedel and Lieberman, Strict Liability in Tort, section 20.4 in The Law, Sales and Marketing (V. 1.0),
Product Liability: Encyclopedia of Small Business