REPRESENTATIVE JOHN ESPINOZA
Lawmakers Must Act Now to End the Drug Industry's Free Ride

As a legislator, I work hard to serve the interests of seniors and the other residents I represent – not the special interests of big corporations. A prime example is the big drug companies. Right now, they enjoy special protections in our state. Michigan is the only state, in fact, that gives them absolute legal immunity when their products harm or kill one of our residents. I have been fighting to fix this injustice and give our residents the right to hold these big companies accountable.

The House passed a package that will do that more than a year ago – on Feb. 22, 2007. It has been awaiting action in the Senate since that time.

The package of bills will:

• Repeal a 1996 law granting legal immunity to drug companies. Signed into law by then-Governor John Engler, the law gives big drug companies complete immunity from legal action when their products harm or kill Michigan residents.
  
  
• Make the repeal retroactive so that residents harmed by dangerous drugs since 1996 can seek legal recourse.
  
  
• Include big drug companies in the Consumer Protection Act, from which they are now exempt.

The House has been fighting to repeal drug immunity since 2005, when 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.

Bextra was taken off the market by drug maker Pfizer in 2005 due to an increased risk of heart attack and serious skin reactions among the painkiller’s users. 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.

When we or a loved one is sick, injured or facing a chronic or deadly illness, we often must rely on the drug companies' products. Unfortunately, we cannot trust the FDA to keep us safe. For years, corporations that manufacture prescription drugs have enjoyed legal immunity in Michigan, and they have used it to hide from their responsibilities to Michigan families.

It is simply unfair that Michigan residents do not have the same legal rights that all other Americans have. A new online petition urges immediate legislative action to end the special treatment big drug companies receive in Michigan. Residents can go to www.housedems.com to sign the petition and urge Senate leaders to protect our residents' health, not the profits of the drug industry.

State Representative John Espinoza represents the 83rd House District. To contact him, call (888) 830-0835 or e-mail johnespinoza@house.mi.gov.