Recent Legislation Aimed to Hold Medical Device Manufacterers Accountable
NPR recently reported on a bill currently in Congress that would allow patients who are victims of defective medical devices to seek compensation for their injuries in state courts. This is an effort to overturn a US Supreme Court ruling from last year that ruled that so long as the FDA approves the device, such approval preempts any right to seek compensation in state court.
The story focuses on victims of the defective Medtronic heart devices, which cause electric shocks because it would "fire" electrical current without warning. The device fired off 31 times before it could be stopped.
Of course, the medical device industry does not want this legislation to go through. It's the same old argument. Medical experts at the FDA are more able to determine whether a device is safe, not a trial lawyer or a state court.
This is just a nice way of saying that jurors are not smart enough to decide these cases. I guess this argument would work for me if the FDA did not approve these heart leads, or defective shoulder pain pumps, or defective hip replacement implants, or pain medications that cause heart attacks, or defective diet medications, or dangerous hormone medications, or . . . . well, I think I made the point.
The other argument, which is nearly as tired, is that the threat of lawsuits will dissuade innovation. In other words, these companies should be allowed to introduce dangerous products into the market place, because only once in awhile they goof it, and in the end, more people benefit, therefore, we should put profits over people.
If there is one thing we have learned, it is that deregulation has gone too far. Taking a jury's ability to decide a case is just another form of deregulation, and should be avoided.
