HB-6072, As Passed House, June 29, 2006
May 17, 2006, Introduced by Rep. Elsenheimer and referred to the Committee on Tort Reform.
A bill to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled
"Revised judicature act of 1961,"
by amending section 2947 (MCL 600.2947), as amended by 1995 PA 249.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 2947. (1) A manufacturer or seller is not liable in a
product liability action for harm caused by an alteration of the
product unless the alteration was reasonably foreseeable. Whether
there was an alteration of a product and whether an alteration was
reasonably foreseeable are legal issues to be resolved by the
court.
(2) A manufacturer or seller is not liable in a product
liability action for harm caused by misuse of a product unless the
misuse was reasonably foreseeable. Whether there was misuse of a
product and whether misuse was reasonably foreseeable are legal
issues to be resolved by the court.
(3) A manufacturer or seller is not liable in a product
liability action if the purchaser or user of the product was aware
that use of the product created an unreasonable risk of personal
injury and voluntarily exposed himself or herself to that risk and
the risk that he or she exposed himself or herself to was the
proximate cause of the injury. This subsection does not relieve a
manufacturer or seller from a duty to use reasonable care in a
product's production.
(4) Except to the extent a state or federal statute or
regulation requires a manufacturer to warn, a manufacturer or
seller is not liable in a product liability action for failure to
provide an adequate warning if the product is provided for use by a
sophisticated user.
(5) A manufacturer or seller is not liable in a product
liability action if the alleged harm was caused by an inherent
characteristic of the product that cannot be eliminated without
substantially compromising the product's usefulness or
desirability, and that is recognized by a person with the ordinary
knowledge common to the community.
(6) In a product liability action, a seller other than a
manufacturer
is not liable for harm allegedly caused by the
product unless
only if either of the following is true:
(a)
The seller failed to exercise reasonable care , including
breach
of any implied warranty, with respect to the product and
that failure was a proximate cause of the person's injuries.
(b) The seller made an express warranty as to the product, the
product failed to conform to the warranty, and the failure to
conform to the warranty was a proximate cause of the person's harm.