Immersive technologies are at the forefront of innovation in the consumer technology and life sciences industries, but regulators are struggling to fit these devices, which blend clinical software with commercial headsets,...more
On May 16, 2024, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) took an unconventional action, unilaterally issuing a recall announcement urging consumers to dispose of CHZHVAN Combination Smoke and Carbon...more
The House Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce (the “Subcommittee”) recently held a hearing on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) budget, which was cut by $1.525 million from Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 to...more
In January of 2023, Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. of the Consumer Product Safety Commissioner (CPSC) ignited a political debate over an unlikely subject: gas stoves. During an interview with Bloomberg on January 9, 2023,...more
On July 18, 2024, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a nonprofit civil-rights organization, filed an amicus curiae brief, encouraging the Supreme Court to grant certiorari to Consumers’ Research v. Consumer Product...more
On July 25, 2024, Representative Roger Williams, Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business (the “Committee”), informed Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric that the Committee has...more
In Himes v. Somatics, LLC, No. S273887, 2024 WL 3059637 (Cal. June 20, 2024), the Supreme Court of California delivered a win to the defense, upholding the learned intermediary doctrine in cases involving prescription drugs...more
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched a new online Business Product Safety Complaint portal through which a business can anonymously alert CPSC of competitor products in the marketplace that businesses...more
In early May 2024, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) notified the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that it intended to file suit against CPSC and CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka for allegedly violating...more
Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries, commonly found in devices used every day, including cell phones, e-cigarettes, and laptops. Lithium-ion batteries are also found in electric vehicles, e-scooters, and other...more
The California Supreme Court granted review in Gilead Life Sciences v. Superior Court—a hopeful turn of events after lower courts issued decisions that resulted in an unprecedented expansion of negligence liability for...more
6/14/2024
/ CA Supreme Court ,
Gilead Sciences ,
Healthcare ,
HIV ,
Liability ,
Life Sciences ,
Manufacturers ,
Negligence ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Product Defects ,
Summary Judgment
On May 8, 2024, the California Attorney General’s Office issued highly anticipated guidance on Senate Bill 478 (SB 478), also known as the “Hidden Fees Statute.” This law, set to go into effect on July 1, 2024, seeks to put...more
On April 15, 2024, in a big win for the continued validity of implied preemption, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the First Circuit’s preemption-based dismissal of a proposed misbranding class action. The...more
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or the “Commission”) has scheduled a public hearing on May 8, 2024, to hear stakeholders’ views on the Commission’s priorities for fiscal years 2025 and 2026. This annual...more
In this final installment of our series (see part 1, part 2, and part 3) discussing CPSC’s presence at the 2024 International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization’s annual symposium, we present two smaller, but...more
On January 25, 2024, Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced the Consumer Advocacy and Protection (CAP) Act, which would amend the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) to increase the maximum civil penalty for a single...more
The use of electric vehicles (EVs) and micromobility devices (EMDs), e.g., electric scooters, electric bikes, and hoverboards, is on the rise and the accompanying potential risks of EVs and EMDs have become a new area of...more
3/22/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Connected Cars ,
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Scooters ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Fires ,
Green Transportation ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Incentives ,
Lithium Batteries ,
Public Safety ,
Safety Standards
This third installment of our series highlights regulators and other stakeholders’ growing focus on e-commerce platforms’ role in protecting consumers from unsafe products, as the percentage of online consumer product sales...more
On March 7, 2024, the U.S. Senate confirmed Doug Dziak as a Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), filling the final Commissioner seat that has remained vacant since Commissioner Dana Baiocco’s...more
This second installment of our series highlights CPSC’s Office of Compliance Activity and continued aggressive enforcement efforts. Multiple presenters emphasized CPSC’s continued aggressive enforcement. Commenters...more
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was well represented at the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization’s annual symposium in Orlando, which took place in February. Agency representatives...more
Courts are increasingly being asked: is AI a product or a service? AI companies currently operate within an undefined products liability space. As companies continue to innovate with AI, courts must grapple with complicated...more
In 2020, Congress passed the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act (NAIIA) to strengthen Artificial Intelligence (AI) advances and innovations across multiple sectors by providing investments to National AI Research...more
Cybersecurity is a key risk factor for emerging applications of artificial intelligence to medical devices. Products failing to address security risks may leave themselves vulnerable to cyberattacks. Bad actors target...more
In September 2022, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released its Clinical Decision Support (CDS) Software Guidance and the final report on the Software Pre-Certification Pilot Program....more