Grinnell v. Charles Pfizer & Co.
274 Cal. App. 2d 424 · California Court of Appeal · 1969
Facts
Plaintiffs Grinnell and Benedetti contracted Type I polio after ingesting Sabin oral polio vaccine, Type I, supplied by the defendant manufacturer during a public immunization campaign. Both plaintiffs were determined to be "compatible" with vaccine-induced illness, and laboratory tests found "vaccine-like" Type I polio virus, ruling out wild-virus strains.
Issue
Can a manufacturer be held strictly liable or liable for breach of express warranty when its oral polio vaccine causes polio, even without direct proof of a specific defect, and when the manufacturer's package insert stated "no known contraindications" despite emerging evidence of risks?
Holding
Yes. The court affirmed the judgments for the plaintiffs, finding sufficient evidence for the jury to conclude that the vaccine was defective and caused the polio under strict liability, and that the defendant breached an express warranty regarding the vaccine's safety.
Rule
A manufacturer is strictly liable in tort for injuries caused by a defective product placed on the market without inspection, and defectiveness can be inferred from circumstantial evidence that the product caused the injury. An express warranty is breached if an affirmation of fact by a seller with superior knowledge, relied upon by the purchaser, proves inaccurate, regardless of the seller's knowledge of its falsity.
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