LANSING – State Representative Mike "Huck" Huckleberry (D-Greenville) today took a stand for Michigan residents who have been damaged by dangerous prescription drugs by voting to repeal a state law that gives drug companies complete immunity when their products harm or kill.
"I don't know of any other business that can distribute products that hurt our residents but walk away scot-free, much like big drug companies do," Huckleberry said. "Prescription drugs are supposed to get people healthy, not make them worse off or kill them. When our residents are hurt by harmful side effects, they need to be able to speak up – not suffer in silence. This plan will turn around Michigan's backward law."
The plan that passed the Michigan House today will:
- Repeal a 1996 law granting immunity to drug companies. Passed by then-Governor John Engler and the Republican-controlled Legislature, the law gives companies complete immunity in Michigan when their products harm or kill if the drug has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- Make the repeal retroactive so Michigan residents who have been harmed by dangerous drugs since 1996 can hold drug companies accountable.
- Include drug companies in the Consumer Protection Act, from which they are exempt.
Recent action in the U.S. Supreme Court and in Georgia has called attention to the flaws in Michigan's drug industry immunity law.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on March 4 that a drug manufacturer is responsible for the content of its label if the product causes harm or death, despite FDA approval of the label. The ruling came in the case of a woman who took action to hold drug maker Wyeth accountable when she lost her arm to gangrene after being injected with an anti-nausea medication.
Georgia's Governor proposed a drug industry immunity law for that state that would be similar to Michigan. The measure met with opposition from the Republican-controlled Senate. An editorial in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution called the plan a "poison pill" that would "create a liability-free haven for drugmakers."
In 2005 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. 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. Bextra was taken off the market in 2005 due to an increased risk of heart attack and serious skin reactions among the painkiller's users.
In the wake of scandals surrounding drugs such as Vioxx, Rezulin and Bextra, there have been revelations that members of FDA drug-approval boards have ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The public testimony of FDA scientists such as Dr. David Graham has indicated that the FDA's system for drug evaluation is "broken."
"Our laws need to protect people, not powerful special interests," Huckleberry said. "There is absolutely no reason that the profits of big drug companies should hold more value than the well-being of our residents. I applaud my colleagues for recognizing the importance of this plan today, and I look forward to working with the Senate to pass it as soon as possible to protect our residents."
U.S. Supreme Court, Wyeth v. Levine, March 4, 2009
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Drugmaker immunity is a poison pill," Jan. 14, 2009
Anstett, Patricia and Norris, Kim. "Michigan Rezulin lawsuits tossed," Detroit Free Press, Feb. 25, 2005
Testimony of David Graham, associate director for science and medicine in the FDA Office of Drug Safety, before the Senate Finance Committee, Nov. 18, 2004
Graham testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Nov. 18, 2004