Preemption-“Silent Tort Reform”

Beth Janicek

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 395

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There is a developing body of judicial opinion that will place new limits on the rights of those who buy or use products, consumer advocates say. It greatly benefits big companies as it insulates them from lawsuits.  Article 6 of the Constitution requires the federal law to control when it clashed with State law.  The recent opinions are finding that if a products’ safety has been approved through federal regulatory agencies then its safety cannot be questioned in individual lawsuits.

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says you can't sue a mattress maker if your mattress bursts into flame despite meeting CPSC standards. Companies making sport utility vehicles would get similar protection from suits brought by people injured or the families of those killed in rollovers under National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposals for stronger roofs."

Dennis Quaid and his wife have filed their lawsuit regarding Baxter Healthcare Corp. for putting vastly different doses of a blood-thinner into confusingly similar packages. The Quaid’s infant twins were given 1,000 times more heparin than babies should get. Their suit contends Baxter should have changed the packaging after three babies died in 2006 at an Indianapolis hospital.

Consumers should be concerned with the protection the Courts are starting to provide big companies under preemption especially with the recent failings by the government agencies to protect consumers from the contaminated Heparin and the excessive lead found on children’s toys.