Future fund for Flint victims complicated, unlikely, says legal expert

[KamaAina]

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/future-fund-for-flint-victims-1351703841890358.html

Congressional Democrats from Michigan, led by Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, are calling on the state’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, to establish a “future fund” to deal with the future medical expenses of Flint residents who were exposed to dangerous levels of lead in the city’s water.

But the creation of such a fund would be complicated and raise more questions than it might answer, according to victim compensation specialist Kenneth Feinberg, who has overseen victim funds for 9/11, the BP oil spill and the General Motors ignition-switch failures.

In an interview with Yahoo News, Feinberg suggested that given the federal government’s role in reimbursing states for medical care generally, it might be impossible to force Michigan to pick up the entire bill for those future health care costs, no matter how big a role the state played in creating the disaster. And based on the limited precedents for such a fund, Flint residents who accepted compensation from it might be required to waive their rights to pursue litigation in the future.

“I’m raising question(s) that might never see the light of day because there will never be a fund,” Feinberg said. “But if there is a fund to reimburse medical expenses, are there any preconditions, (i.e.) ‘I will not sue’?”

[CTyankee]

1. Feinberg and ohers must need to find out the truths about this situation...I am beyond

understanding how this cold happen to these people.