AS IS WHERE IS MEDICAL AUCTION COULD BE BAD EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE FOR GOOD

There is a big used medical equipment sale coming up in Hawaii at St. Francis Healthcare system, Eric Wilensky and Erik Tivin owners of Centurion Services Group have landed this deal; which should bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for their company.  Benefiting from the auction is Queens Health System the largest hospital system in Hawaii according to Pacific Business News.

Centurion Services Group sells thousands of pieces of medical equipment a month, according to vice president Erik Wilensky.  The Hawaii sale will add hundreds if not thousands more pieces of unchecked and un-sanitized equipment into the market.  

The terms of sale at Centurion Services are AS-IS WHERE-IS, this means that equipment sold at their auction, if contaminated, will go undetected and into the world.  There is no policy that takes into consideration the danger of selling uncleaned medical equipment at auctions.  

According to Erik Wilensky, "We don't do anything.  We bring it in and sell it...We don't plug it in or check it or anything...This is an as-is where-is auction."  

But the problem with selling equipment like this is that the owner of the equipment could be inadvertently putting themselves at risk of a lawsuit.  If Centurion Services Group does not specify to buyers, that this equipment could be contaminated and special handling may be needed to transport this type of contaminated equipment, then the risk of a liability lawsuit is elevated, according to the legal definitions in the law library on liability.  

If any of the equipment is found to be contaminated, then the big question is-who is responsible?

Is the buyer responsible?  Is Centurion Services Group? Or is the hospital?  Since anyone is allowed to purchase equipment at Centurion Services Group auctions and Med Mart Auctions, un-informed buyers can inadvertently buy a contaminated piece of equipment and bring it home to their loved ones thinking it is safe or worse use it on a patient, if it is purchased by a doctor. 

If you feel like you have purchased equipment that is contaminated or you feel that the equipment you purchased may have been mis-represented by auctioneers there are several sources who you can talk to in order to determine if you have a liability case.  Some attorneys in business law are exclusively tort attorneys in liability cases.  You can find a list here, http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/products-liability-law

The bottom line is that without proper education and knowledge, hospitals, auction houses, and buyers of used medical equipment can be in danger of a liability suit if contaminated equipment leaves their facility.

"The responsibility of a manufacturer or vendor of goods to compensate for injury caused by defective merchandise that it has provided for sale.

When individuals are harmed by an unsafe product, they may have a Cause of Action against the persons who designed, manufactured, sold, or furnished that product. In the United States, some consumers have hailed the rapid growth of product liability litigation as an effective tool for Consumer Protection. The law has changed from caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") to Strict Liability for manufacturing defects that make a product unreasonably dangerous. Manufacturers and others who distribute and sell goods argue that product liability verdicts have enriched plaintiffs' attorneys and added to the cost of goods sold. Businesses have sought tort reform from state legislatures and Congress in hopes of reducing damage awards that sometimes reach millions of dollars.

Source--http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Product+Liability