Governor Perdue is again trying to eliminate the rights of all Georgians to seek legal redress when they have been injured by another person’s negligence or carelessness. Please do your part to tell the Governor “No Thanks and No Way.”
Enacting ‘Victim Pays’ would be like taking away David’s Slingshot
SB 108 would allow intimidation and fear to rule our court of law
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.”
The salmonella-tainted peanut butter poisoning cases nationwide are frightening and horriffic-over 500 individuals sickened from it so far and eight deaths. From peanut butter! And this is peanut butter that was supposed to have been checked by the Federal Government, in the form of the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) and through State Government, in the form of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, both of which have, obviously, failed Georgians and all United States citizens. Both of these government entities have failed miserably at their missions, protecting consumers. The FDA Inspection Reports read like an absolute horror story. The culprit corporation, Peanut Corporation of American, located in Blakely, Georgia, had numerous batches of peanut butter test positive for salmonella, but instead of immediately halting production, they shipped off the same batches to be tested by other laboratories that, for some unknown reason, failed to detect the strains of salmonella that were obviously present. Then the Peanut Corporation of American knowingly shipped out tons of peanut butter that had salmonella in them, that ultimately killed and sickened hundreds of people. What unbelievable reckless conduct! And by the way, where was the Georgia Department of Agriculture in all this??
The list of tainted products that you should not consume, apparently, grows with each day. I urge you to check the list of affected foods and do not consume any of them or give any of them to your pets.
And now, here in Georgia, the Governor has the audacity to introduce a bill into the Georgia General Assembly that would immunize any Georgia corporation whose product had been approved by the FDA. The proposed law by Governor Perdue currently would apply to Georgia pharmaceutical companies. That means any Georgian harmed by a pharmaceutical would have no recourse against the corporation that harmed him/her if the FDA had simply approved the product. Now I ask you, if the FDA obviously can’t keep Georgians safe from peanut butter, how could it possibly keep Georgians safe from pharmaceuticals that kill or harm users? It can’t, obviously, but our dear Governor would have his own Georgian citizens treated like second class citizens.
I want to continue to use my blog to warn Georgia consumers of dangerous medications when it becomes apparent that a particular drug either is more dangerous than it is helpful, or that the side effects of a drug are so severe that it calls into question using the drug in the first place. Such may be the case with the drugs Cipro and Levaquin, both common antibiotics. If you are taking Cipro or Levaquin, this warrants discussion with your physician who is prescribing it.
Apparently, despite the risk, these drugs remain popular in the medical community to prescribe for infections. Many patients are not even aware of the risks associated with them, and many doctors are not telling their patients of the risks. It shouldn’t be this way. Physicians should be telling their patients when they prescribe a drug all known possible side effects and give their patients as much information as possible when prescribing any drug.
FDA Warning: Cipro May Rupture Tendons
A South Carolina jury recently returned a verdict for a woman who was wrongfully accused by Target of attempting to pay for an item of merchandise with an allegedly counterfeit $100 bill. Target violated its own procedures by sending out email with surveillance photos of the plaintiff attached. After suspecting the plaintiff was trying to use a counterfeit bill, Target then took it upon itself to notify 31 other businesses about her, telling them to keep an eye out for the plaintiff in their stores. The Secret Service then visited the plaintiff and determined her $100 bill was legitimate! The stress of the investigation and the false accusations made against her reputation caused the plaintiff to lose 40 pounds.
Do American corporations simply have no common sense any more?
Cantrell v. Target Corp., U.S.D.C. (S.C.), October 22, 2008
Did you know there is compelling evidence that links inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to the use of Accutane, an acne drug? If you or a loved one has ever taken Accutane, you need to be aware of this causal link, especially if you begin to show signs of IBD.
A jury in New Jersey recently handed down verdicts of $13 Million in three cases in which the plaintiffs allege the use of Accutane for acne caused IBD againt the drug manufacturer, Hoffman-La Roche. Plaintiffs argued the drug company should have placed stronger warnings on the label of the drug warning users that use of Accutance can cause IBD. The three plaintiffs in the New Jersey case all took Accutance in their teens for acne. Soon thereafter, they developed IBD, causing one to have to undergo surgery to remove his colon. They all face a greater risk now of colon cancer.
Do these side effects sound worth the risk to clear up some acne? No, of course not. And had the plaintiffs known about them they never would have used the drug. The drug manufacturer, though, knew about this side effect and failed to warn appropriately about it. Hoffman-La Roche still claims there is no causal connection between Accutane and IBD, regardless of the jury’s opinion. Not shocking…a drug manufacturer failing to accept responsibility for what it has done. It also faces a host of other upcoming civil jury trials on this drug.
As many of you know who read my blog regularly, one of my pet peeves is folks who text while driving a motor vehicle out on the streets of Atlanta, or really anywhere in Georgia. I wrote about this recently when the State of California banned texting while driving, and I assume California has many more licensed drivers than Georgia, given the relative sizes and populations of the two states. Studies have proven that texting while driving makes you just about as compromised of a driver as a driver who is intoxicated.
So you can imagine my excitement when I see today an article announcing that certain Georgia legislators are planning to sponsor a bill in the 2009 Georgia General Assembly session to make texting while driving illegal for Georgia teenagers. A reasonable person might now ask why should this law apply only to teenagers? Isn’t it just as dangerous for adults to text while driving? And I would say, yes, it is, and yes, the law should apply to all drivers in Georgia; however, like many things, this is an issue we must take baby steps at a time with, and the logical place to begin is with Georgia teenage drivers, who text and receive texts hundreds of times a day and who have little driving experience at all, much less experience driving while texting.
So it is a start, and that’s where things must begin. I congratulate the Georgia lawmakers who have taken this on and hope the other Georgia legislators see fit to pass this important bill.
Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog