Thursday, November 3, 2011

Comments on Wisconsin's proposed preemption bill

A few days ago, I reported (here) that a state Senate committee has proposed a bill that would protect drug and device makers from liability in state lawsuits, so long as their products were approved by the FDA, unless the manufacturer committed fraud against the FDA.

In response to the bill, the Center for Justice and Democracy has published a report, available here, explaining why the bill is a bad idea.

According to the CJ&D press release, "[t]his legislation would be devastating to Wisconsin residents. It would prevent them from seeking compensation for real injuries, no matter how severe, caused by dangerous drugs and devices. And it would leave drug and device companies completely off the hook for marketing products that harm or even kill, once the under-resourced FDA has approved them.” . . . “Despite . . . the terrible impact of Michigan’s drug immunity law on victims and taxpayers in that state, Wisconsin may be headed in the same direction, stripping away residents’ access to the civil justice system and granting negligent companies extensive immunity.  This is terrible legislation and it should be stopped.”

For more comments on the proposed bill go herehere and here.

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