GAO provided information on 59 product liability cases that were resolved through verdicts between 1983 and 1985 in 9 of Arizona's 15 state superior courts and the U.S. District Court for Arizona.

GAO found that: (1) the average damage award in Arizona was $1.5 million, double the average of $685,000 for cases in Massachusetts, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Carolina combined; (2) Arizona had a high rate of punitive damage awards compared to the other four states; (3) cases in Arizona were appealed less often than in the other states; and (4) posttrial reductions in awards of compensatory damages, designed to replace the losses caused by injuries, were smaller than in the other states.