The U.S. House heard testimony on the proposed Medical Device Safety Act, a bill which would effectively overrule a U.S. Supreme Court preemption decision handed down last year. The 5-4 Riegel decision granted tort immunity to the manufacturers of medical devices that had been approved by the FDA and sparked a firestorm of criticism and national debate over the appropriate balance of victim’s rights and federal regulation.
This proposed bill will ensure that victims of dangerous medical products have access to the courthouse and a chance to persuade a jury that the manufacturer put profit ahead of consumer’s safety. The Bush administration pushed a preemption agenda in order to shield big corporations from the possibility of individual damage lawsuits. Naturally, the pro-big business Republicans oppose this new legislation. They and their well paid lobbyists are waging an all out propaganda campaign to defeat its passage using political buzzwords and attacks on trial lawyers to sidetrack public opinion. They want the authority on whether a medical device is defective to rest with the FDA, even though it is woefully underfunded and has a track record of too-cozy relationships with the companies it supposedly regulates.
We should all contact our legislators and urge them to support the Medical Device Safety Act. It’s in all our best interest to level the playing field for victims who have to take on corporate giants.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
