It could take many months if not years to rebuild public confidence in British beef. From the European desk in London, this is Steven Beard for Marketplace. Here at home, the debate today is over defective product lawsuits. Today the U.S. Senate approved limits on consumer damage awards against makers of faulty consumer goods. President Clinton however has vowed to veto the legislation, which proponents argue would stem an overwhelming number of product liability cases.
Most cases are in various levels of state courts.
And an unknown number of product complaints are settled before reaching a jury verdict. The Rand Corporation's Institute for Civil Justice finds that generally, individual liability cases rose in the early 80's, declined some in the late 80s, and are back up now. Hard to find anything definitive there. Hensley says many end up in bankruptcy. I'm John Dimsdale in Washington.