The Decline and Fall of Personal Responsibility
In late September of 1982, people begin dying from a mysterious cause. In early October investigators have learned that one or more maniacs have poisoned several bottles of Tylenol. Less than a year later, U.S. congress passes a bill that makes it a federal offense to tamper with consumer products, and manufactures initiate “tamper-proof” packaging. An in-depth history of the case can be read at the PBS News Hour website.
About that same time people were becoming aware of a problem that Ford Motor Co. had with the fuel system on their popular Pinto automobile. Something over 100 lawsuits were brought up against Ford, two of them were significant. One was Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co. The other was The State of Indiana v.Ford Motor Co,. in which Ford's legal defense was vastly more ambitious both financially and with the arsenal of defense authorities they called up compared to the effort mounted by the plaintiffs. In either case, Ford was found “not guilty” or suffered far less punishment than was originally specified by the jury.
A study was done regarding the Ford Pinto Fuel System Failures Two things were determined.
1.) A former head of the NHTSA, testifying on Ford's behalf, said the Pinto’s design was no more or less safe than that of any other car in its class, and 2.) Ford decides to handle any subsequent lawsuits out of court as it finds it to be more feasible, economically speaking, to pay off the claims as they arise
The Tylenol deaths are still a mystery as no one was ever found to be the perpetrator(s); however packaging became a lot harder for people to open.
Car manufacturers still make mistakes, and still take care of their legal responsibilities, with their pocket books and, often, at the expense of the loss of moral and ethical values upon which our country, the United States of America, was founded.
