Judge Rules FDA Preempts State Law in Thimerosal Claims
A federal judge in Pennsylvania recently ruled on a Thimerosal case that may have disastrous effects on those harmed by the vaccine preservative. The ruling essentially states that the FDA is the law of the land on drugs, preempting all state consumer protection laws. Considering the track record of the FDA in protecting Americans over the last 5 years, that is a frightening thought.
"The defendants raised two preemption arguments, one of express preemption under the Vaccine Act and a second of conflict preemption under the Food and Drug Administration’s position expressed Jan. 24, 2006, as the Preamble to the Final Rule. Judge Stengel disagreed with the express preemption argument, but said the legislative history of the Vaccine Act as set forth in Blackmon v. Am. Home Prods. Corp (328 F. Supp. 2d 659, 663-66 [S.D. Tex. 2004]) shows that Congress intended to preempt claims asserting strict liability and design defect based on negligence, but not failure to warn. However, the judge ruled that failure to warn on all products is conflict preempted by the FDA’s Preamble/Final Rule, which says state laws requiring stronger or different labels conflict with the FDA’s authority over the contents of drug labels." Read the full article at LexisOne.