More rights go wrong

The FDA has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to protecting us against unsafe drugs and medical devices, and the Supreme Court has just ruled against us having reasonable recourse if we fall victim to bad goods.

The High Court ruled that lawsuits brought by patients against medical companies need to be limited. Right now, this protection extends only to companies that make medical devices.

But, next up on the docket are the makers of prescription drugs.

It has become a dizzying display of smoke and mirrors—and you’re the one who caught in the middle. I’m going to try to walk you through it, but it’s circular logic at its worst. For the upcoming case that could determine whether or not drug makers will also be included in this liability protection, you have two old cronies pointing fingers at one another. The FDA says that they expect the drug companies to know their products and to label them accordingly with the appropriate warnings.

But the drug companies point back and say that the FDA provides a foundation of what should go on those drug labels—but also a cap on how much to put on there, as well. The FDA retorts that they don’t want the label warnings to cause an “overreaction,” and by placing a limit, they’re protecting against undue alarm.

When this is the type of stuff they’re arguing over, the only thing I know for sure is you will be hard-pressed to get a fair shake. And now, if you actually have a problem, the Supreme Court might take that shake away altogether.

The threat of litigation is the only thing that a patient has in his bag when it comes to trying to keep a company honest. And with this one form of recourse restricted, the drug companies will be even more out of control.

This leaves companies out there to play fast and loose with their research data. If the recent practices of the drug companies prove anything it’s that their goal is profit at any cost—even thousands of lives. We’re not talking about minor issues here—this is blatant fraud. But now they’ll have a fortress of protection from the highest court in the land.

And, incidentally, we already have a system to limit their liability—a jury system. If they aren’t at fault, the jury can rule in their favor—if the court doesn’t decide to strip us of that, too.

Well, the court can limit our recourse, but they can’t quiet or voices (at least not yet). Write to your senators and representatives and demand the same protection for the average Joe that they are doling out to the big corporations.


This, the 205th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs