LANSING - Amid more news reports that drug makers concealed evidence and used false data to boost their products, state Rep. Gino H. Polidori (D-Dearborn) today urged the Michigan Legislature to immediately repeal a 1996 law that gives pharmaceutical companies absolute immunity.
"Every day we delay action against this unfair law puts Michigan patients at risk," Rep. Polidori said. "Again and again, we get new proof that drug companies conceal the truth and use deception to boost the sales of their products. For them, profits come first, not patients. We must send a strong message to the drug companies that they will be held accountable when their products harm consumers."
Democrats have proposed bills that would repeal a 1996 law passed by then-Gov. John Engler and the Republican-controlled legislature. The law - the only one of its kind in the country - gives companies complete immunity from legal action so long as the drug in question has been approved for safety and efficacy by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The Democrats' legislation comes after drugs Vioxx, Bextra, Rezulin and fen-phen were linked to tens of thousands of deaths and injuries nationwide. The four drugs are no longer on the market.
"Removing a drug after it has harmed people is like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped," Rep. Polidori said. " We clearly cannot trust the drug companies and we cannot rely on an under-funded and weakened FDA. We must allow consumers to hold drug companies accountable."
Recent articles in The New York Times and USA Today, and on MSNBC.com, provide ample evidence that the drug industry must be held accountable for its actions, Rep. Polidori said:
* Companies like Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline routinely conceal negative results of their drug trials, and refuse to name the drug in question when posting results;
* Drug makers fail to provide advance notice of clinical trials before they begin and refuse to publish completed trial results for medicines that are already being sold;
* Drugs like Vioxx, Celebrex, Paxil and others are routinely advertised as safe and effective for conditions they have not been approved to treat;
* The FDA's enforcement of honesty in advertising is weak and ineffective;
* Able Laboratories, a manufacturer of generic prescription drugs, is recalling its entire inventory due to concerns with poor quality. The FDA announced the decision five days after the fact.
To read more, go to www.housedems.com.