Monday, November 12, 2007

Michigan may miss out on Vioxx award

Why? Bad laws passed in bad times that made Michigan one-of-a-kind in the nation when it comes to holding drug manufacturers responsible for their defective products. We aren't allowed to sue. House Democrats have passed legislation to overturn this law way back in the spring- and it has stalled in the Republican Senate.


Friday, Senate Democrats called on their Republican colleagues to take action.


Senate Democrats once again today called on Senate Republican's to take up bills that provide justice to Michigan victims of dangerous drugs. Yesterday Merck, the manufacturer of the dangerous drug Vioxx, announced that it would be offering billions of dollars in a lawsuit settlement to potentially 47,000 victims around the country, but Michigan victims and their families are prevented from seeking recourse because of our state's drug immunity law.


Michigan is the only state in the nation with a law prohibiting recourse for consumers who are injured or have family members killed by a harmful drug. In February, the Michigan House of Representatives approved reform legislation that would repeal immunity for drug companies and restore consumer's rights, but the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to take up the package.


The House passed this 70-39, with 13 Republicans voting for the bill.


February.


Senate Republicans will use the budget problems as an excuse for ignoring this and other legislation that the House somehow found the time to work on. Watch them over the flip...


The AP ran an article yesterday that pointed out how other issues are taking a back seat this year due to the budget issues, but the AP failed to mention all the time off that was taken over the summer.


The budget has sucked the oxygen out of the Capitol," says Sen. Patricia Birkholz, a Republican from Saugatuck and chairwoman of the Senate's Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee. "It's taken literally all of our working hours on many days."


Like that one time the Senate Republicans left even the budget hanging because they took off for the day? There is video of this. Why couldn't they work on it then? The cameras filmed an empty chamber with Democrats standing around ready to work, but no Republicans to be found.


Or, how about that time that Senator Schauer called them the "Do-Nothing" Senate in this video that featured charts showing how few bills they have worked on this year to that point (Aug 2nd), and also told us how they would only meet one day a week in August.


Not to mention the change in rules that kept them on a two-week vacation in July. The budget may have "taken all their working hours" on the days they were there, but then again, you have to remember they weren't there all that much over the summer.


They were opportunites to work on these things, they just didn't do it. Now attorneys for Michigan residents are waiting to hear whether or not they will be able to share the Vioxx award. They brought the suit in New Jersey due to our laws.


"We think this applies to all plaintiffs in the U.S., with no distinction to where people live," said Mark Bernstein, of the Farmington Hills-based Bernstein Law Firm.


The firm sued in New Jersey courts on behalf of 75 Michiganders who died suddenly or had heart attacks or strokes linked to the drug.


The words "we think" coming from a lawyer indicates that there is a chance that it may not apply, or perhaps Merck could appeal for Michigan residents. It would be really bad PR, but this being a major drug company...


Senate Republicans have had plenty of time to address this issue; there is a reason why they have chosen not to. Jack Lessenberry predicted as much back on Feb. 21st-


Write, call, scream at or otherwise put pressure on your friendly homegrown state senator - especially Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, a Republican from Rochester. Here's why: Naturally, Bishop is going to oppose any bill that puts people ahead of corporations.

  -snip-


What the Republican leadership will try to do is to bury this bill in committee and prevent it from ever coming up for a vote. Big Pharma has plenty of lobbyists who are working hard to help them do this, by the way.


And that is exactly what happened.


You could write, call or scream again now, but your window of opportunity is getting pretty small. After they get back from their current two-week vacation, they are scheduled out for the year on Dec. 6th.