U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, writing the dissent in the Court’s disappointing Wyeth v. Levine decision, said it best: “This case illustrates that tragic facts make bad law. The Court holds that a state tort jury, rather than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is ultimately responsible for regulating warning labels for prescription drugs.”
And with the ink barely dry on the Wyeth decision, the plaintiffs’ bar was busy lobbying Congress to introduce legislation to reinstitute liability against medical device manufacturers for deaths and injuries caused by FDA-approved products. On March 5, 2009, Senator Kennedy (D-Mass) introduced S.540 to do just that. That same day, Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) introduced a similar bill in the House.
With the high court’s latest decision opining that federal law does not preempt state law in matters of drug safety, and now bills looming in both houses of Congress to reinstitute liability against medical device manufacturers, it is only a matter of time before the courts are flooded again with frivolous liability lawsuits.
When that happens, only the states with comprehensive tort reform legislation will be able to keep the hordes of plaintiffs’ lawyers away. One such example is the State of Mississippi, where legal reform efforts turned around that state’s economy and legal climate.
Recently, former Mississippi Senator Charlie Ross joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss how Mississippi won the tort war, how its legislation is a model for the nation, and how it is important to institute reforms to conform the law to common sense.
What follows is the interview originally heard on "Your Turn - Meeting Nonsense With Commonsense" on WEBY 1330 AM, Northwest Florida's talk radio…[Listen to the interview here.]