## Facts

- Poliomyelitis (polio) caused widespread death and paralysis; mass vaccination sharply reduced reported cases in the United States.
- Two polio vaccines were developed: the injected Salk vaccine (killed virus) and the oral Sabin vaccine (live, weakened virus).
- The Sabin oral vaccine could shed live attenuated virus, which might be transmitted to close contacts and, in extremely rare instances, cause paralytic disease.
- American Cyanamid Co., through a division (Lederle Laboratories), manufactured the Sabin-type oral polio vaccine administered in this case.
- The vaccine’s professional warning materials stated that in a very small number of doses (reported as roughly 30 cases out of 147 million administered doses), a recipient or a close contact could develop paralytic disease.
- Laurie Johnson, an infant, received the oral Sabin dose from her physician, Dr. Vernon Branson.
- Dr. Branson did not tell Laurie’s father, Emil Johnson, about the risk described in the warning materials.
- Emil Johnson later contracted paralytic polio allegedly from exposure to the vaccine virus shed by his daughter and became totally disabled.
- Emil Johnson sued American Cyanamid and Dr. Branson on multiple products-liability theories, including design defect and failure to warn.
- A Kansas jury found Dr. Branson 0% at fault and American Cyanamid 100% at fault, awarding $2 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages (total $10 million).
- American Cyanamid appealed the judgment against it; no party appealed the jury finding that Dr. Branson was not at fault.

## Issues

1. Whether the oral Sabin-type polio vaccine is an “unavoidably unsafe product” under comment k to Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A, so that strict-liability design-defect claims are barred on public-policy grounds and design claims must proceed, if at all, in negligence.
2. Whether claims based on inadequate warnings for an “unavoidably unsafe product” are governed by strict liability or by negligence/reasonableness principles.
3. Whether the evidence was sufficient to submit claims against the vaccine manufacturer to the jury, or whether the trial court should have granted a directed verdict for American Cyanamid.
4. Whether a new trial was required under Turnbull v. Byram when the jury exonerated the physician and imposed all fault on the manufacturer.

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court held the Sabin oral polio vaccine was an “unavoidably unsafe product” within comment k to § 402A.
- The court ruled that strict-liability design-defect claims are not allowed for such products; design-defect claims may proceed only on a negligence theory.
- The court ruled that warning-defect (failure-to-warn) claims for such products also sound in negligence and are judged by a reasonableness standard (while manufacturing defects remain subject to strict liability).
- Reviewing the record, the court concluded the trial court erred by denying American Cyanamid’s motion for directed verdict and by submitting the manufacturer’s liability to the jury.
- Turnbull v. Byram was distinguished and held not controlling on these facts.
- Disposition: the judgment against American Cyanamid was reversed.

## Legal Principles

- Comment k (“unavoidably unsafe products”) may bar strict-liability design-defect claims for certain prescription drugs and vaccines when, although the product carries unavoidable risks, it provides substantial medical benefit and is properly prepared and accompanied by appropriate warnings.
- For a product within comment k, liability for alleged design defect rests on negligence (reasonable care in design, testing, and selection among available alternatives), not on strict liability.
- For a product within comment k, alleged warning defects are evaluated under negligence/reasonableness standards; adequacy of the warning is not treated as a strict-liability question.
- Even where negligence standards apply, the case must present sufficient evidence of unreasonable manufacturer conduct (on design or warnings) to justify submission to a jury; otherwise, a directed verdict is required.
- In multi-defendant cases, a remand for a new trial is not automatic when appellate review removes the only defendant found liable, especially where the jury’s exoneration of another defendant was not appealed and remains final.

## Conclusion

Johnson held that the Sabin oral polio vaccine falls within comment k’s “unavoidably unsafe product” category, eliminating strict-liability design-defect claims and treating warning-based claims under a negligence/reasonableness standard; because the evidence did not support submitting liability against the manufacturer to the jury, the Kansas Supreme Court reversed the $10 million judgment against American Cyanamid and rejected a Turnbull-based request for a new trial.


Johnson v. American Cyanamid Co., 239 Kan. 279 (1986)