"Critics Say Flu Bill Overprotects Drug Industry"

"They say provisions added to the pandemic legislation would shield firms from liability." Read the full article by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in the Los Angeles Times. (December 20, 2005)

"Bird flu preparedness legislation headed for a final vote in the Senate this week would create loopholes that critics said would allow vaccine makers to avoid legal liability even if a patient were harmed by negligence.

"Democrats and the Assn. of Trial Lawyers of America derided the provisions Monday as a gift to the drug industry. Supporters of the legal exemption said the lawyers were acting in their own self-interest, but a leading public health group also criticized the liability language......

"The liability provisions are contained in a mammoth defense spending bill that would provide $3.8 billion of President Bush's $7-billion request for pandemic preparedness.

"'Washington Republicans tucked a huge Christmas present for the drug companies into the appropriations bill in the dead of night,' said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles). 'The liability shield can be granted to any product used to prevent or treat an epidemic or a pandemic, and the [administration] gets to decide what that means.'.......

"Manufacturers of drugs designated to deal with the emergency would be shielded from lawsuits unless they had engaged in "willful misconduct." Such a threshold is so high it would protect companies that were negligent or reckless, critics said......

"Although the legislation would create a compensation program for patients injured by pandemic vaccines, it allocates no money for the fund. That would be determined according to the need in an emergency, supporters of the bill said.

"Some critics said the language was so broad that it could allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to declare an emergency for any serious health problem facing the country, such as obesity or diabetes. The bill specifies that the secretary's decision could not be challenged in any federal or state court."

"UPDATE 2-U.S. House passes $453.3 billion defense bill" (Reuters, December 22, 2005.)

"The defense spending bill also contains nearly $3.8 billion to begin preparations for a possible avian flu pandemic.

"The Bush administration had sought more than $7 billion to stockpile drugs and take other steps in case the deadly animal illness mutates in a way that makes it easily transmissible to humans.

"Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, attacked a provision that House and Senate Republican leaders inserted into the bill giving drug companies protection from lawsuits.

"Obey, who said he would support narrow protections for manufacturers of avian flu vaccines, criticized the provision he said provides 'all sorts of insulation for pharmaceutical companies, not just drugs to deal with the flu, but a far broader range of products.'

"The avian flu money would also be used to increase international surveillance of the disease and help state and local authorities in the United States prepare."

"Bush planned bill-signings next week of a massive defense bill." (Mary Dalrymple, Associated Press via the Boston Globe, December 24, 2005.)

The Defense Appropriations Law should soon be available on this website, so you can read for yourself the final version.