Premium
Jury Decisions and Awards in Personal Injury Lawsuits Involving Foodborne Pathogens
Author(s) -
BUZBY JEAN C.,
FRENZEN PAUL D.,
RASCO BARBARA
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of consumer affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1745-6606
pISSN - 0022-0078
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6606.2002.tb00431.x
Subject(s) - jury , plaintiff , victory , odds , supreme court , law , medicine , psychology , environmental health , political science , logistic regression , politics
A study of food poisoning jury verdicts in 32 states (1988–1997) revealed that plaintiffs won awards in food poisoning jury trials 31% of the time, and received a median award of $25,560. Multivariate analyses were performed to examine the effects of various factors on food poisoning jury verdicts and on the size of the award. The odds of a plaintiff victory increased if a foodborne pathogen or illness was specified, and decreased if defendants had “deep pockets”or used medical expert testimony. Illnesses involving hospitalization, death, or chronic complications received higher awards than other illnesses.