Exactly. Microcool gowns are claimed to be impermeable, meaning that if you substances like blood on them, they do not leak through the gown. They are used in situations like the treatment of Ebola victims in which medical personnel must take great care not to become infected by their patients. The allegation, which according to both news reports and now a court decision, is true, is that Kimberly-Clark knowingly supplied gowns that were in fact not impermeable.

If no one became infected as a result, that is wonderful, but it is presumably due to a combination of good luck and the use of multiple precautions. Assuming the allegations to be true, what Kimberly-Clark did endangered the lives of thousands of medical personnel. While there may be no case for compensatory damages, what Kimberly-Clark did deserves serious punishment. In the civil system, punitive damages are the principal means of accomplishing that. In cases of willful and severe misconduct such as this, perhaps the appropriate reform is to send the executives responsible to prison.

The linked article is incomplete, not offering a summary of the plaintiffs’ arguments. They sound like serious people (hospitals and health care networks), frequently on the receiving end of lawsuits themselves.