The wrong cure

Published June 27, 2014

by Carter Wrenn, Talking About Politics, June 26, 2014.

Mike, a young down-the-line rock-ribbed Republican partisan who sees eye to eye with Senator Bob Rucho (who once tweeted ‘Obamacare has done more damage than the Nazis’) but is too smart to say anything that foolish within earshot of a reporter, and Jim who would like Senator Elizabeth Warren to run for President because Hilary’s too conservative were arguing across the table when Conor, a small town lawyer and, by my reckoning, the last of the Jessecrats, interrupted and said:

 

Alright. If Bob Rucho’s not the most powerful Old Bull in the Senate he’s pretty close to it so when he woke up one morning and in a flash of revelation saw there were too many frivolous lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies (when they sell a fellow a drug that’s supposed to cure his high blood pressure but instead lands him in the ER with a stroke) it was just a matter of time before he pulled the pin on the grenade and – Conor waved both hands – kaboom.

 

Well you have to admit, Mike said, there are way too many lawsuits, and Conor said one frivolous lawsuit was too many but there’s a simple way to stop that: Punish the people who file them. After all, nothing stops foolishness like a big fine or jail time but Senator Rucho’s hadn’t done that so now a lot of folks were wondering whether he’d  had a different goal in mind all along and all his talk about frivolous lawsuits was just a fig leaf.

 

Don’t get me wrong, Conor added, I’m not saying Bob Rucho’s malicious, a politician finding the wrong cure for a problem’s nothing new – it happens every day. But giving a guilty pharmaceutical company immunity from practically all lawsuits has to be some kind of a first.

 

Mike was trying to come up with a way to derail Conor but before he could say a word Conor struck again saying Republicans like to say people ought to work and stand on their own two feet and take care of themselves and when they get in a jam the government shouldn’t bail them out but for some strange reason when it comes to pharmaceutical companies (in Senator Rucho’s eyes) personal responsibility doesn’t apply – when a pharmaceutical company screws up the government ought to step in and take it off the hook.

http://www.talkingaboutpolitics.com

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June 27, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Norm Kelly says:

Does the FDA have any responsibility when a drug meant to help with asthma actually causes a heart attack? If the pharma company can be sued for causing the damage, can the FDA be sued for not catching it in the MANY, MANY, MANY years of review? Since the government accepts oversight before drugs can be released to market, are they not culpable at all?

And then look at the flip side. Drugs that have been used for years, in other countries, with known outcomes, does the FDA have to stand in the way of the drug making it into our markets? Shouldn't the FDA take some of the history of the drug into account during the review process? After all, we have lib judges on the Supreme Court who believe that it is their duty to review other countries laws & constitutions before rendering judgment, so shouldn't other government agencies, like the FDA, also look across the borders for information?