Full Text of SB2813 093rd General Assembly
SB2813 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 SB2813
Introduced 2/5/2004, by Kirk W. Dillard SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Commonsense Consumption Act. Exempts a manufacturer, packer, distributor, carrier, holder, seller, marketer, or advertiser of a food product from civil liability for any claim arising out of weight gain, obesity, or other generally known condition allegedly likely to result from long-term consumption of the food product. Provides exceptions to the exemption. Sets out pleading requirements for claims filed under the exceptions.
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A BILL FOR
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SB2813 |
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LRB093 20571 LCB 46381 b |
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| AN ACT concerning civil liability.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Commonsense Consumption Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Legislative finding. The General Assembly finds | 7 |
| that it is in the best interest of this State to reduce the | 8 |
| number of frivolous lawsuits in Illinois by preventing the | 9 |
| filing of frivolous claims against manufacturers, packers, | 10 |
| distributors, carriers, holders, sellers, marketers, or | 11 |
| advertisers of food products that comply with applicable | 12 |
| statutory and regulatory requirements. | 13 |
| Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 14 |
| "Claim" means any claim by or on behalf of a natural person | 15 |
| as well as any
derivative or other claim arising from, asserted | 16 |
| by, or on behalf of any corporation, company, association, | 17 |
| firm, partnership, or other entity, including any governmental | 18 |
| entity or private attorney general. | 19 |
| "Generally known condition allegedly caused by or | 20 |
| allegedly likely to result
from long-term consumption" means a | 21 |
| condition generally known to result or to likely result from | 22 |
| the cumulative effect of consumption and not from a single | 23 |
| instance of consumption. | 24 |
| "Knowing or willful violation of federal or State law" | 25 |
| means that: | 26 |
| (1) the conduct constituting the violation was | 27 |
| committed with the intent to deceive or injure consumers or | 28 |
| with actual knowledge that the conduct was injurious to
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| consumers; and | 30 |
| (2) the conduct constituting the violation was not | 31 |
| required by regulations, orders, rules, or other |
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| pronouncements of or statutes administered by a federal, | 2 |
| State, or local governmental agency. | 3 |
| Section 15. Exemption. Except as provided in Section 20, a | 4 |
| manufacturer, packer, distributor, carrier, holder, seller, | 5 |
| marketer, or advertiser of a food (as defined in Section 201(f) | 6 |
| of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(f)), | 7 |
| or an association of one or more such entities shall not be | 8 |
| subject to civil liability under any State law, including all | 9 |
| statutes, regulations, rules, common law, public policies, | 10 |
| court or administrative decisions or decrees, or other State | 11 |
| actions having the effect of law, for any claim arising out of | 12 |
| weight gain, obesity, or other generally known condition | 13 |
| allegedly caused by or allegedly likely to result from | 14 |
| long-term consumption of the food. | 15 |
| Section 20. Exception to exemption.
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| (a) The exemption provided in Section 15 of this Act does | 17 |
| not preclude civil liability where the claim of weight gain, | 18 |
| obesity, health condition associated with weight gain or | 19 |
| obesity, or other generally known condition allegedly caused by | 20 |
| or allegedly likely to result from long-term consumption of the | 21 |
| food is based on: | 22 |
| (1) a material violation of an adulteration or | 23 |
| misbranding requirement prescribed
by statute or | 24 |
| regulation of this State or the United States and the | 25 |
| claimed injury was proximately caused by the violation; or | 26 |
| (2) any other material violation of federal or State | 27 |
| law applicable to the
manufacturing, marketing, | 28 |
| distribution, advertising, labeling, or sale of a food, | 29 |
| provided that the violation is knowing and willful, and the | 30 |
| claimed injury was proximately caused by the violation. | 31 |
| (b) The provisions of Section 15 of this Act shall not | 32 |
| preclude civil liability for breach of express contract or | 33 |
| express warranty in connection with the purchase of a food. |
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| Section 25. Pleading requirements. | 2 |
| (a) In any petition stating a cause of action under | 3 |
| subdivision (a)(1) of Section 20 of this Act, the petitioner | 4 |
| shall state with particularity the following: | 5 |
| (1) the statute, regulation, or other State or federal | 6 |
| law that was allegedly violated; | 7 |
| (2) the facts that are alleged to constitute a material | 8 |
| violation of the statute or regulation; and | 9 |
| (3) the facts alleged to demonstrate that the violation | 10 |
| proximately caused actual injury to the plaintiff. | 11 |
| (b) In any petition stating a cause of action under | 12 |
| subdivision (a)(2) of Section 20 of this Act, the petitioner | 13 |
| shall state with particularity the following: | 14 |
| (1) the statute, regulation, or other State or federal | 15 |
| law that was allegedly violated; | 16 |
| (2) the facts that are alleged to constitute a material | 17 |
| violation of the statute or regulation; | 18 |
| (3) the facts alleged to demonstrate that the violation | 19 |
| proximately caused actual injury to the plaintiff; and | 20 |
| (4) facts sufficient to support a reasonable inference | 21 |
| that the violation occurred with the intent to deceive or | 22 |
| injure consumers or with actual knowledge that the | 23 |
| violation was injurious to consumers. | 24 |
| (c) For purposes of applying this Act, the pleading | 25 |
| requirements under this Section are deemed part of State | 26 |
| substantive law and not merely procedural provisions. | 27 |
| Section 30. Discovery. In any action brought under Section | 28 |
| 20 of this Act, all discovery and other proceedings shall be | 29 |
| stayed during the pendency of any motion to dismiss unless the | 30 |
| court finds, upon the motion of any party, that particularized | 31 |
| discovery is necessary to preserve evidence or to prevent undue | 32 |
| prejudice to that party. During the pendency of any stay of | 33 |
| discovery under this Section and unless otherwise ordered by | 34 |
| the court, any party to the action with actual notice of the | 35 |
| allegations contained in the petition shall treat all |
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| documents, data compilations (including electronically | 2 |
| recorded or stored data), and tangible objects that are in the | 3 |
| custody or control of the party that are relevant to the | 4 |
| allegations as if they were the subject of a continuing request | 5 |
| for production of documents from an opposing party under the | 6 |
| Illinois rules of civil procedure. | 7 |
| Section 35. Application. The provisions of this Act shall | 8 |
| apply to all covered claims pending on or filed after the | 9 |
| effective date of this Act, regardless of when the claim arose.
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