States Fear FDA Rule Would Risk Liability

[Celebration]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011701112.html

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators are proposing to insert language in a prescription drug rule that officials in some states believe would help pharmaceutical companies fight off lawsuits.

The proposal comes amid a flurry of high-profile, state and federal pharmaceutical liability cases, including a mounting number of cases involving the painkiller Vioxx, made by Merck & Co.


The National Conference of State Legislatures revealed the proposal last week in a press release and letter sent by its president to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. Both were first reported Saturday by The Wall Street Journal.

The new language reportedly appears in the preamble to a proposed rule that guides the labeling of prescription drugs, first proposed by the Food and Drug Administration more than five years ago. The inserted language claims that the revamped and federally approved labels on prescription drugs would pre-empt state law.

[sasha031]

1. the states are already picking up the tab for * medicare failure

and the feds aren't reimbursing the states as far as I know...was this the game all along, tort reform!