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Perfect Products manufactures balloons, which are then bought and resold by wholesale novelty distributors. Mego Corp. manufactures a doll called “Bubble Yum Baby.” A balloon is inserted in the doll's mouth with a mouthpiece, and the doll's arm is pumped to inflate the balloon, simulating the blowing of a bubble. Mego Corp. used Perfect Products balloons in the dolls, bought through the independent distributors. Plaintiff's infant daughter died after swallowing a balloon removed from the doll. Is Perfect Products liable to plaintiff under a theory of strict liability.? Explain.
Answer: Nature or Strict Liability in Tort, Defective Condition, Unreasonably Dangerous. No. Judgment for Perfect Products. A cause of action in strict products liability arises when a manufacturer places on the market a product which has a defect that causes injury. Inadequate and dangerous products, regardless of warnings, will be held to be defective. Balloons, however, are not inherently dangerous, and Perfect Products has no duty to warn since the intended or foreseeable use of their products is not hazardous. Ingesting a balloon is not an intended use, and to the extent it is a foreseeable one, it is a misuse of the product from which the child's guardian must protect. Note that Perfect Products had no knowledge of the subsequent use of their product by Mego Corp. Any unforeseen modification of the product after it leaves the manufacturer's hands is not its responsibility. Landrine v. Mego Corporation, 94 A.D.2d 759, 464 N.Y.S.2d 516 (A.D. 1 Dept. 1983).
Perfect Products manufactures balloons, which are then bought and resold by wholesale novelty distributors. Mego Corp. manufactures a doll called “Bubble Yum Baby.” A balloon is inserted in the doll's mouth with a mouthpiece, and the doll's arm is pumped to inflate the balloon, simulating the blowing of a bubble. Mego Corp. used Perfect Products balloons in the dolls, bought through the independent distributors. Plaintiff's infant daughter died after swallowing a balloon removed from the doll. Is Perfect Products liable to plaintiff under a theory of strict liability.? Explain.
Answer: Nature or Strict Liability in Tort, Defective Condition, Unreasonably Dangerous. No. Judgment for Perfect Products. A cause of action in strict products liability arises when a manufacturer places on the market a product which has a defect that causes injury. Inadequate and dangerous products, regardless of warnings, will be held to be defective. Balloons, however, are not inherently dangerous, and Perfect Products has no duty to warn since the intended or foreseeable use of their products is not hazardous. Ingesting a balloon is not an intended use, and to the extent it is a foreseeable one, it is a misuse of the product from which the child's guardian must protect. Note that Perfect Products had no knowledge of the subsequent use of their product by Mego Corp. Any unforeseen modification of the product after it leaves the manufacturer's hands is not its responsibility. Landrine v. Mego Corporation, 94 A.D.2d 759, 464 N.Y.S.2d 516 (A.D. 1 Dept. 1983).
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