Bill > S1008

This bill aims to enhance justice for families harmed by lead exposure. The key provisions include: 1. Amending the existing law to change a reference from "one hundred and ninety-nine B" to "one hundred and ninety-nine C". 2. Defining "Placing lead in commerce" to include entities that offer lead for sale or incorporate it into products, unless the lead is intended for use in a closed-loop system or is below regulatory limits. 3. Establishing a presumption of causation if a plaintiff is shown to have lead in their body at levels known to cause injury. Plaintiffs can recover damages by showing the defendant placed lead-containing products into commerce, knew or should have known about the harm, and did not take sufficient action to prevent it. 4. Providing defenses for defendants who took actions to prevent exposures, sold products for uses not expected to cause harm, or had no reason to expect the product would be used in a way that could cause exposure. 5. Allowing courts to allocate liability among responsible parties based on market share, without limiting plaintiffs' ability to recover from any defendant found liable. 6. Clarifying that the remedy provided in this bill supplements, rather than replaces, any existing statutory or common law causes of action related to lead exposure.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S1008