Re:lawyers run the show (Score 1)

...the fear of a lawsuit jacks up insurance rates, which makes research and development excessively costly.

I think that research and development is being strangled more by fear of patent litigation than fear of product liability lawsuits.

I'm not sure, but I'd guess that fear of product liability lawsuits and the subsequent jacking up of insurance rates would more directly affect the sales and marketing of a product -- and ultimately the availability and price of a product.