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Science 18 May 1990:
Vol. 248. no. 4957, pp. 823 - 827
DOI: 10.1126/science.2343303
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Articles

Science, Vol 248, Issue 4957, 823-827
Copyright © 1990 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

The need to reform personal injury law leaving scientific disputes to scientists

SD Sugarman

University of California, Berkeley 94720.

Personal injury law is staggeringly inefficient as a system of victim compensation. There is little reason to assume that it importantly curtails unreasonably dangerous conduct, yet there is good reason to conclude that it promotes socially undesirable behavior. Moreover, the tort law system ill serves the goal of individual justice, in part because it assumes that lay juries can correctly decide complex scientific issues. Several methods of replacing tort law with other compensation systems are surveyed and a specific, balanced reform package is proposed.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)