Daily Lawsuit News

Medical liability lawsuits are something that now hits closer to home for actor Dennis Quaid. Last year, Quaid almost lost his twin newborns when they were given a dose of blood thinner mistakenly since the bottles were stored close to the correct drugs. This was a problem previously noted by several others in civil lawsuits, but ignored by Baxter Labs and the labels remained unchanged.

Quaid testified in a congressional hearing to discuss product liability lawsuits against drug manufacturers and possible reforms in the area that could allow courts to step in and limit drug lawsuits. In his testimony, Quaid said:

“I believe if preemption of lawsuits is allowed to prevail, it will basically make all of us, the public, uninformed and uncompensated lab rats…”

Baxter maintained that what happened to the children, a dosage of Heparin that was 1000 times the normal recommended dose, was caused by human error. However, with previous complaints filed that the medication was packaged too closely to other drugs going unheard, the onus falls squarely on the manufacturer.

The drug manufacturer claims it did not recall older bottles because it would have caused a shortage of its blood thinning medication, which is a lame excuse at best. The fact that the FDA wants to step in and limit the potential liability of drug makers is preposterous. As Henry Waxman said in this hearing:

“One of the most powerful incentives for safety — the threat of liability — would vanish.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1453209520080514

Source: Reuters

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