FDA Weakens Victim's Rights

Staff Writer

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The Bush Administration has taken yet another step to weaken the rights of
victims of medically related mistakes. The latest effort to protect the drug
manufacturers in the United States is the issuance of a new rule by the Food and Drug
Administration pertaining to labeling requirements by drug manufacturers. The first
thing this new rule does is make it clear that the Food and Drug Administration has
established that their federal requirements preempt all state tort liability claims based
on inadequate drug warning labels. This means that no matter how bad the warning
is concerning potential dangers of the drug, and no matter how badly the consumer is
injured, victims of inadequate labeling may have no remedy available to them if a court
rules that the labeling used by the drug manufacturer complied with the new FDA
regulations.

This is a serious deprivation of victims' rights, and the FDA has admitted that the
federal preemption provisions were added at the request of the billion dollar drug
industry in this country.
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the largest group of consumer trial
lawyers who seek to enforce the rights of innocent injured victims, is fighting this rule
promulgation in Congress in the hopes of having congressional leaders take steps
necessary to withdraw the rule.
If you wish to join in this effort, please contact your congressman or senator and
let them know that the new FDA drug warning preemption rules are unconstitutional
and unfair.