News from
THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      
Contact: Liz Kerr
517-371-5410
February 28, 2008

Study Shows Walberg's Alliance with Drug Companies Bad for Michigan

Walberg voted to shield pharmaceutical companies from responsibility for their products that harm or kill

LANSING—Michigan's one-in-the nation law that strips away the rights of patients who were harmed or killed by prescription drugs not only hurts Michigan residents' health but also has done nothing to attract the good paying jobs in the pharmaceutical industry the law's proponents suggested it would, according to a report released today by the Center for Justice and Democracy in New York, NY. As a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, Walberg voted in favor of the shield.

"Everyday people die and are harmed by dangerous drugs," said Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. "Because of the law Walberg supports, victims and their families are banned from seeking compensation for their medical expenses or suffering." 

Walberg's support for drug company immunity is clear. In 1995, he voted to create the law. Then, when given the chance to repeal the problematic policy in 1997, Walberg again chose drug companies over the people he represents.

Walberg has repeatedly said that we should not put our trust in the government. Yet, he supports a law that forces patients to rely on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to keep them safe. Faced with numerous instances of fraud and questionable research, Bush's FDA has not demonstrated an ability to protect victims. The civil justice system is our country's method for giving victims the ability to hold corporations accountable when they harm or kill someone, but Walberg supports taking this right away.

"It's clear that Bush's FDA has fallen down on the job of protecting citizens, but Walberg continues to support a policy that puts too much faith in the government's ability to police the private sector," said Brewer. "Walberg has said over and over again that we can't put faith in the federal government to fix problems. If he can be manipulated by the pharmaceutical industry to trust government over giving people harmed or killed by dangerous prescriptions some sort of recourse, I don't know how we could ever trust him to stand on any sort of principles."

Michigan is the only state in a nation with a law that prohibits victims of dangerous drugs from holding the companies that sell and manufacture those products responsible for the harm and death they cause. Walberg and other supporters of a shield for drug companies claim that this law should bring drug industry jobs to the state. However, since the law was been enacted, Michigan's unemployment rate has severely risen, and thousands of good paying jobs in the pharmaceutical industry have left the state.

A complete copy of A Tragic Blunder:  Michigan's Drug Industry Immunity Law is available at www.centerjd.org.  

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Paid for by the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee, 606 Townsend St., Lansing, MI  48933. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.