As organ transplantation procedures become accepted as standard medical practice, it is anticipated that the frequency of liability claims against transplant care providers will increase. This article examines current statutory and common law analyses of malpractice issues in transplantation, with particular attention given to issues of informed consent as they arise both for the organ donor and donee.

In the last 35 years, organ transplant technology has advanced greatly. The major problem associated with organ transplantation is organ availability, and not surgery-related mortality. This article examines current organ procurement procedures and technologies, legislative repsonses to the scarcity of transplantable organs, as well as the psychological barriers to organ donation. Issues of fairness in the allocation of scarce economic and social resources, the role of religion and ethics in organ donation and transplantation decision, and the impact of the media are also considered.

The dramatic growth of medical malpractice litigation in recent decades has contributed significantly to an overall increase in health care costs in this country. Although lawmakers, physicians, and other responsible citizens have proposed numerous solutions in an effort to curb die crisis, diese proposals have generally been ineffective.

In this Article the Audior endorses countersuits as die most appropriate response to frivolous medical malpractice actions. The Author also suggests that contingent fee systems, coupled with the economic motivation of private insurers to settle claims quickly, provide incentive for plaintiffs to initiate frivolous claims.

This Article analyzes the general legal approaches available for countersuits, emphasizing recent successful actions based on malicious prosecution and abuse of process, and proposes more widespread use of diese approaches.

The hazards posed by deteriorating friable asbestos in the nation’s schools are causing serious concerns for public health officials, school boards, parents and school employees. Reports by both the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office agree that both school children and school employees stand a substantially increased risk of contracting some form of asbestos-related disease as a result of exposure to deteriorating asbestos materials in school buildings.

School systems plagued by die asbestos hazards are now filing suits against asbestos manufacturers alleging causes of action in breach of warranty, negligence and strict products liability in tort. Some plaintiffs in school asbestos litigation seek to recover die costs of EPA-mandated asbestos inspection and abatement programs which have already been completed. Still others request injunctions to compel the manufacturers themselves to conduct inspections and finance abatement.

This Note examines the school asbestos situation from a legal perspective and focuses primarily on whether die schools’ claims should be considered as economic losses or as property damage. It examines die impact of statutes of limitations on these cases under both contract and tort theories. The Note argues diat school asbestos claims should be decided under a strict products liability standard.

Orphan drugs, essential for die treatment of persons widi rare diseases, generally are unprofitable for manufacturers to develop and market. While congressional and administrative efforts to promote die development of orphan drugs have met widi modest success, application of products liability doctrine to orphan drug sponsors could subvert those efforts. This Note describes die provisions of die Orphan Drug Act and analyzes products liability law with respect to orphan drug litigation. It argues that die goals of tort law support the imposition of liability for design defect, failure to warn and negligence in testing. Finally, die Note acknowledges diat liability costs create disincentives for orphan drug development and suggests mechanisms for reducing manufacturers’ liability concerns.