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LANSING – State Representative Bob Constan (D-Dearborn Heights) today announced that a package of bills to end the absolute immunity enjoyed by drug companies in Michigan will get a hearing in the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

"Michigan is the only state in the nation that gives big drug companies total immunity when their drugs harm or kill our residents, and that must change," Constan said. "Our residents deserve to be able to hold companies accountable when their products harm or kill. We must end the free ride the drug industry is getting in Michigan."

The package of bills to be discussed in Committee on Wednesday will:

• Repeal a 1996 law granting legal immunity to drug companies. Passed by then-Governor John Engler and the Republican-controlled Legislature, the law gives companies complete immunity from legal action as long as the drug in question has been approved for safety and efficacy by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
• Make the repeal retroactive so that Michigan residents harmed by dangerous drugs since 1996 can seek legal recourse.
• Include big drug companies in the Consumer Protection Act, from which they are currently exempt.

In the wake of scandals surrounding drugs such as Vioxx, Rezulin and Bextra, there have been revelations that many members of FDA drug-approval boards have ties to the pharmaceutical industry. House Democrats said Michigan residents cannot blindly trust the FDA and must be able to hold the drug companies accountable when harmful drugs make it to the market. The public testimony of FDA scientists such as Dr. David Graham indicate that the FDA's system for drug evaluation is "broken."[i]

House Democrats have been fighting to repeal drug industry 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.[ii]

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.[iii]

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.

"Any company that sells any product that harms or kills must be held accountable – no exceptions," Constan said. "Repealing this law will give our residents a chance to put the pieces back together when dangerous prescription drugs destroy their lives. It's the right thing to do for our residents in Michigan."