Scientifically, the case is a farce. The likelihood that the spermicide caused the plaintiff's birth defect is close to nil. Makers of oral contraceptives also fight lawsuits, but they have been on the market longest and have learned to survive the liability sweepstakes, mainly by providing excruciatingly detailed warnings. The art of writing warning labels requires a wealth of market and litigation experience. The warning rules greatly favor old products over new ones.
Innovation germinates in small institutions.
But success in the regulatory system requires a large stable of lobbyists and liability lawyers. So technology tends to proceed in small steps from established firms more than huge leaps from innovators. Insurance aggravates the bias against innovators. The availability of affordable insurance depends entirely on the accumulation of actuarial experience something all established technologies have and no truly innovative one ever does. U.S. utilities now go abroad to buy back improvements on the technology U.S. firms once sold.