{"id":6169,"date":"2022-03-18T09:46:18","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T13:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/irwin\/?p=6169"},"modified":"2022-03-18T09:46:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T13:46:18","slug":"holding-drug-manufacturers-accountable-irwin-nessel-propose-eliminating-drug-immunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2022\/03\/18\/holding-drug-manufacturers-accountable-irwin-nessel-propose-eliminating-drug-immunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Holding Drug Manufacturers Accountable: Irwin, Nessel Propose Eliminating Drug Immunity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LANSING, Mich. (March 18, 2022) \u2014 Sen.<\/strong> Jeff Irwin<\/strong> (D-Ann Arbor) has introduced legislation, supported by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel<\/strong>, that allows consumers to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible when their products harm them.

Senate Bill 961<\/a> will repeal a provision of the Product Liability Act<\/a>, a law Michigan adopted in 1995, that provides immunity for drug manufacturers. By increasing accountability, Sen. Irwin\u2019s bill will also improve the safety of drugs.

\u201cYears ago, our legislature took away our right to sue drug manufacturers when their product hurts or kills them or their loved ones,\u201d Sen. Irwin<\/strong> said. \u201cThis is bad policy and it\u2019s only hurting our state.\u201d

Under Michigan\u2019s current Product Liability Act, a drug is not considered defective or unreasonably dangerous, and the manufacturer and seller cannot be liable in a product liability suit if that drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is the nation\u2019s strictest product liability law and grants pharmaceutical companies near absolute immunity from lawsuits.

\u201cMichigan is an outlier when it comes to the barriers that exist to holding drug manufacturers and distributors accountable,\u201d Attorney General Nessel<\/strong> said. \u201cI fully support this legislature taking action to repeal the drug immunity law. No company should be permitted to avoid responsibility for products that negatively impact Michigan consumers.\u201d

While Michigan is set to receive hundreds of millions<\/a> of dollars from opioid settlements, Michigan\u2019s existing law<\/a> is preventing the state from individually suing pharmaceutical distributors \u2014 such as Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen \u2014 and opioid manufacturers \u2014 including Johnson & Johnson and Purdue Pharma \u2014 in state court for their role in creating the opioid epidemic.

The law has also prevented individuals and groups from filing class-action lawsuits against these corporations for aggressively promoting their products and falsely claiming that their drugs were not addictive. In 2001<\/a>, Michigan residents were prevented from suing American Home Products Corporation, the maker of fen-phen, a diet drug that caused heart disease. Then in 2004<\/a>, a Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that Michigan could not sue Merck, the maker of Vioxx, an anti-arthritis drug that caused serious heart and other health problems.

Further, Michigan\u2019s Product Liability Act is holding the State of Michigan back from suing and recouping enormous economic losses, and holding these corporations accountable for the human suffering and losses that have resulted from the opioid epidemic, which has had a devastating impact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n