Poole v. Alpha Therapeutic Corporation
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
696 F. Supp. 351 (1988)
Stephen Poole, a hemophiliac who used blood-derived factor VIII from three companies (defendants) over many years, contracted AIDS and died; his estate (plaintiff) sued all three suppliers, alleging each negligently solicited high-risk donors, failed to screen and treat blood, and failed to warn of AIDS risk, and moved to add theories of market-share, concerted-action, and alternative liability, since it was uncertain which supplier's contaminated product caused his infection.
Whether alternative liability is the appropriate test for causation if two or more actors' conduct is tortious and there is uncertainty regarding which actor's conduct caused the plaintiff's injury.