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Products Liability Keyed Owen, 8th Ed.
Higgins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.
Citation:
671 F. Supp. 1055 (1987)Facts
Kevin Higgins and Ronald Jones were firefighters with the Baltimore City Fire Department who used Imron polyurethane enamel paint to paint fire apparatus. The paint was manufactured by DuPont using glycol ether acetates supplied by Eastman and Union Carbide. The Baltimore Fire Department distributed the paint to fire stations in unmarked cans without labels, warnings, or instructions. Both Higgins and Jones fathered twins who died at birth, and they alleged that the deaths were caused by the teratogenic effects of the glycol ether acetates in the paint. Evidence showed that DuPont had knowledge of the possible teratogenic effects of glycol ether acetates as early as 1980, receiving information from various sources including Eastman and Union Carbide. The suppliers had communicated warnings about potential reproductive hazards to DuPont, which had its own research laboratory (Haskell Laboratory) that conducted studies on these chemicals.
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