Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog

I have written about the attempt going on RIGHT NOW at the Georgia Capitol by Governor Perdue and Senator Bill Cowsert and others who take up Governor Perdue’s mantra to eliminate Georgian’s rights to sue a Georgia pharmaceutical company if its drug harms a Georgian. Senate Bill 101, heard yesterday in the Economic Development Committee (NOT the Judiciary Committee, where it actually belongs), would strip Georgians of ALL of our rights to hold a Georgia drug manufacturer liable for damages its drug causes a Georgian. Ironically, this bill would hurt ONLY Georgians; those folks who took the drug in any other state, Alabama, for example, WOULD be able to hold the Georgia company responsible for the harm it causes, as it should be. Can you imagine any worse affrong to the rights of Georgia citizens than this? This should show you how little the Governor of Georgia and his followers in the Georgia General Assembly think of the welfare of Georgia consumers. Yesterday in the Committee hearing, the Chairperson did not allow the Committee to vote on the bill.

ACT NOW! Folks, now is the time for everyone living in the State of Georgia to call your State Senator and ask them to vote NO on Senate Bill 101. Also, now is the time to call the Governor’s office and let Governor Perdue know you don’t appreciate his underhanded attempts to eliminate your constitutional rights.

Enough is enough.

Warning to all Georgia Citizens: Governor Perdue is trying to do away with your constitutional rights and make you less safe! Please help us stop him by letting him and your Legislators know you do not want them to support this bill. Please contact Governor Perdue now and ask him to withdraw SB 101.

Governor Perdue wants to place the safety of Georgia’s citizens

in the hands of a corrupt and mismanaged federal bureaucracy

In the midst of what can only be described as one of the worst catastrophes to befall Georgia, the Peanut Corporation of America Salmonella Scandal, Governor Perdue today “promises” to do something about it. While wearing a tie with peanuts on it, (was that some apparent attempt at humor?) Governor Perdue promised he would do something but didn’t say what or when or how or by whom. No solutions.

And yet in the middle of this catastrophe, Governor Perdue has the time and energy and audacity to offer new legislation today that would eliminate the ability of a Georgia citizen to seek civil damages from any Georgia pharmaceutical company whose drug harmed a Georgia citizen if the FDA had approved the drug. The is the SAME FDA that coudn’t protect us from peanuts! Is he kidding? Or does he really mean to treat Georgia citizens like this? One of the ironic things about this bill is that ONLY Georgians are harmed by it! If a citizen of, say, Alabama, takes a drug from Georgia and is harmed by it, that Alabama citizen can sue the Georgia manufacturer in Alabama, but a Georgia citizen would have no ability to hold the Georgia pharmaceutical company liable for the harm it has caused to a Georgia citizen.

This is truly unbelievable and really shocking that the Governor or the Legislature would for even a minute take the bill seriously. I think it is more evidence of the arrogance of the Governor and his disdain for the Georgia Civil Justice System, which, as opposed to the FDA, is truly a legitimate method of holding negligent companies accountable. And by the way, since when did it become unacceptable to hold negligent corporations accountable for the damage they cause? Sometimes I feel like the Governor is in Wonderland.

I continue to be dismayed at Governor Perdue’s apparent disdain for his constituents, the hard-working Everyday Georgians. His proposal to eliminate the right and ability of Georgia citizens to hold Georgia pharmaceutical companies responsible for injuries they cause here in Georgia is INSULTING and a slap in the face of every Georgian. Not to mention the fact that it is probably unconstitutional, as it would limit only the rights of Georgians to seek justice, not of other Americans’ ability to sue Georgia pharmaceutical companies. Imagine that! Governor Perdue is ready, willing and able to throw away your rights because you live in Georgia, but he can’t take away the rights of someone living, say, in Alabama who has been injured by a Georgia pharmaceutical company. What a joke! But, unfortunately, Governor Perdue, in his continued shortsightedness and misunderstanding of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Georgia, will be attempting to get the Georgia General Assembly to pass such an insane law.

My good friend and fellow trial lawyer, Jay Cook, wrote an op-ed column in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution today. It is reprinted below. Jay, like me, is a Past Preident of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. Jay is also a former President of the State Bar of Georgia and now continues the fight to protect the inalienable rights of all Georgians. Good job, Friend! And Fellow Georgians, please contact Governor Perdue’s office and let him know you are not going to take it any more. Also, please contact your State Senator and State Representative and ask them to vote against the Governor’s proposed limitation of your rights.

Should Georgia limit liability for drug companies? CON

As you know, Governor Sonny Perdue has proposed legislation that would grant any Georgia corporation that manufactures drugs complete immunity from any civil liability if that company’s drug harms a user as long as the FDA had approved it. This is a slap in the face of all Georgians and we need to tell the Governor we are not going to put up with it. Can you imagine the insanity of this proposal in light of the FDA debacle in Blakely, Georgia with the Peanut Corporation of America and the salmonella outbreak? Obviously, the FDA is a joke and can’t protect us from peanut butter, much less from dangerous pharmaceuticals. This is the same FDA that missed 12 prior positive tests for salmonella at the Peanut Corporation of American plant before the salmonella outbreak.

The Governor’s office made some feeble attempt to justify this slap in the face of Georgians yesterday and to distinguish the horrible peanut situation from his proposed FDA legislation: “The ‘F’ in FDA is much different than the ‘D’ in FDA. Our legislation is specifically targeted at drugs and medical devices that go through a rigorous approval process, which is totally unrelated to the FDA’s food regulation process,” said Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley. (The entire article is reprinted below).

Can you believe he said that? This sort of hyper-technical and meaningless distinction is tantamount to the Governor’s treating Georgians like second class citizens. We deserve better. Use this link to tell Governor Perdue enough is enough, and when it comes to the safety of Georgians’ food and drugs, we deserve grades of “A’s” and “B’s”, not “F’s” and “D’s.” Give Governor Perdue’s proposed “get out of jail free” card for corporate wrongdoers an “F.”