President Bush has pushed for lawsuit reform since before he became president. However, as president he was unable to make much progress because of congressional opposition, mostly Democratic.
He has since utilized another way, a quieter way, a way that is little noticed by the public just as it was intended. That way is to write administrative rules. Since 2005 lawsuit limits have been adopted or proposed that govern many everyday items that Americans use – drugs, food, medical devices, cars. The effect of such rules is to shield companies from lawsuits.
The underlying basis for these rules is the concept of federal preemption. Simply put it means that federal law AND REGULATIONS supersede state laws, laws that may allow one person to sue another for injuries sustained.
The issue at hand is whether companies can use preemptive language to get their cases thrown out of court. Such an interpretation would leave little room for consumers to sue negligent corporations. How this can be used is evident in the recent suit by Dennis Quaid and his wife against a maker of heparin. The suit is brought in Illinois state court.
The Quaids sued after their newborn twins were given massive doses of the blood thinner at a hospital. The Quaids claim the manufacturer was negligent in packaging different doses of the product in similar vials with blue backgrounds.
The company _ Baxter Healthcare Corp. _ is seeking to use the doctrine of preemption to shield it from any civil liability, claiming that once FDA approved the labeling and packaging at issue in the case, the company is immune from civil suits for money damages.
Later this year the Supreme Court will tackle the preemption issue as it relates to prescription drug labelling and lawsuits. Judges in federal courts seem split on their decisions in cases of this type. One federal appeals judge recently wrote that over the last 75 years the Food and Drug Administration has viewed state law as being complementary to the agencies safety warnings but “only for the last two years has it claimed otherwise.” Others have noted the federal preamble in favorable rulings in dozens of cases against pharmaceutical companies.
Jim
Dave