Quoted from http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/story/10923779/
NC Senate mulls immunity for drug companies
March 29, 2012
. RELATED
- Doctors, others decry idea of barring suits over faulty drugs
- Draft of pharmaceutical liability immunity bill
Raleigh, N.C. — A state Senate committee is considering a proposal that would block lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies over drugs that were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Drugmakers say they need protection from frivolous lawsuits, but doctors and others say the prospect of giving the companies immunity puts profits above people.
"We don't want any other family to have to suffer through something like this," Carolyn Prewitt, whose granddaughter died in 2006 from blood clots in her lungs, said Thursday..
Brittany Prewitt, 15, was taking the drug Yaz to clear up her acne and collapsed while playing catch with her father. The family is suing Bayer, claiming the company suppressed information about dangers associated with Yaz.
Under the proposal being considered by the Pharmaceutical Liability Subcommittee of the Senate, such suits would be barred in North Carolina. The only exception would be for a plaintiff who could prove a pharmaceutical company lied to the FDA to get a drug approved.
Critics of the bill say that's nearly impossible to do.