LANSING – After a year of inaction by the Republican-led Senate, State Representatives Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga), Joan Bauer (D-Lansing) and Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing) today called on the Senate Majority Leader to pass a package of bills that will end the absolute immunity enjoyed by the pharmaceutical industry in Michigan and allow consumers to hold big drug companies accountable when dangerous drugs such as Vioxx harm or kill. The House passed the package on Feb. 22, 2007. The public is urged to sign an online petition demanding Senate action at www.housedems.com.
"Michigan is the only state in the nation that gives drug companies a get-out-of-jail-free card," Byrum said. "For the past 10 years, Michigan citizens whose lives have been destroyed by dangerous drugs have been denied the power to hold drug companies accountable for dangerous, deadly drugs. The House has stepped up to the plate – the Republican-led Senate has not. It's time to bring justice to Michigan residents."
The package of bills will:
- Repeal a 1996 law granting legal immunity to drug companies. Passed by then-Governor John Engler and the Republican-controlled Legislature, the law gives companies complete immunity from legal action so long as the drug in question has been approved for safety and efficacy by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Make the repeal retroactive so that residents harmed by dangerous drugs since 1996 can seek legal recourse.
- Include big drug companies in the Consumer Protection Act, from which they are currently exempt.
House Democrats also launched an online petition today to urge the Senate to act immediately to end the special treatment big drug companies receive in Michigan. The public can go to www.housedems.com to sign the petition.
"When you hurt someone, you should be held accountable," Bauer said. "This is a golden rule that should apply to everyone – drug companies included. No Michigan consumer should ever be treated like a second-class citizen. We need to protect the health of our citizens – not the profits of the big drug companies."
House Democrats have been fighting to repeal drug immunity since 2005, when claims by 187 Michigan residents against Warner-Lambert, maker of the diabetes drug Rezulin, were dismissed by a New York federal court judge because of the Michigan law. Rezulin was pulled off the market in 2000 after it was linked to nearly 400 deaths and thousands of cases of liver failure.[1]
Bextra was taken off the market by drug maker Pfizer in 2005 due to an increased risk of heart attack and serious skin reactions among the painkiller's users. Vioxx, an anti-inflammatory drug that its maker, Merck, pulled off the market in 2004, may have caused heart attacks or cardiac deaths in up to 139,000 Americans, based on Merck's own studies.[2]
In the fall of 2007, Merck agreed to pay $4.85 billion to settle thousands of cases brought by people who suffered heart attacks and strokes after taking Vioxx.
Another Michigan resident, Kimberly Kent, is challenging Michigan's one-of-a-kind drug-industry immunity law before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the landmark case, she is suing the maker of Rezulin for causing her mother's death. The Court will decide the question of whether manufacturers of products in America will receive immunity from litigation if one or more federal agencies regulate and approve those products.
"We must empower our citizens and our prosecutors to go after companies that violate the public trust and harm our residents," Meadows said. "This is about consumer fairness, consumer protection and corporate accountability. I urge the Senate to act quickly and pass the House plan that will give our residents the power to hold big drug companies accountable."