Lawsuits and Liability
Lawsuits and Liability
Only three companies in the U.S. are licensed to produce the flu vaccine: Aventis Pasteur (Fluzone), Chiron Corp. (Fluvirin), and MedImmune Inc. (the nasal spray FluMist). If more companies made the vaccines, it is unlikely the supply would have been so short, or that more doses could not have been made on short notice. Why so few?
The number of vaccine manufacturers in the U.S. has dropped from 20 to only three during the past 15 years largely as a result of lawsuits filed on behalf of supposed victims of vaccine side effects. Vaccine makers have been under nearly constant legal assault by lawyers.
Most recently, personal injury lawyers have filed lawsuits against the maker of Thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that contains mercury, claiming the compound is responsible for the recent rise in cases of autism. However, researchers have studied repeatedly the possibility of a link and have found no evidence.
According to legal expert Peter Huber, 50 to 80 percent of the cost of most vaccines is liability insurance. The risk of losing such cases, and especially the risk of losing a class-action suit that could cost the industry hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, has persuaded many companies to leave the vaccine marketplace.
The biotechnology industry has made it clear that the threat of lawsuits is keeping it from investing in new vaccines and medicines to meet the threat of bioterrorism, such as the deliberate spread of smallpox and anthrax. In a November 2002 letter to Sen. Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota), the president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Carl B. Feldbaum, wrote, ?“Without a clear understanding of liability protection, most of our companies, particularly the smaller, innovative companies, will be unable to contract to provide preventive therapeutics or products if it means putting the future of their businesses at risk.?”
The second lesson from the vaccine shortage, then, is that until lawsuit abuse is checked, drug companies will not take the necessary risks involved with producing a sufficient supply of vaccines, much less invest in finding the next generation of life-saving vaccines.
By Lets Ask Edwards Not To Sue
Lawsuits and Liability
Only three companies in the U.S. are licensed to produce the flu vaccine: Aventis Pasteur (Fluzone), Chiron Corp. (Fluvirin), and MedImmune Inc. (the nasal spray FluMist). If more companies made the vaccines, it is unlikely the supply would have been so short, or that more doses could not have been made on short notice. Why so few?
The number of vaccine manufacturers in the U.S. has dropped from 20 to only three during the past 15 years largely as a result of lawsuits filed on behalf of supposed victims of vaccine side effects. Vaccine makers have been under nearly constant legal assault by lawyers.
Most recently, personal injury lawyers have filed lawsuits against the maker of Thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that contains mercury, claiming the compound is responsible for the recent rise in cases of autism. However, researchers have studied repeatedly the possibility of a link and have found no evidence.
According to legal expert Peter Huber, 50 to 80 percent of the cost of most vaccines is liability insurance. The risk of losing such cases, and especially the risk of losing a class-action suit that could cost the industry hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, has persuaded many companies to leave the vaccine marketplace.
The biotechnology industry has made it clear that the threat of lawsuits is keeping it from investing in new vaccines and medicines to meet the threat of bioterrorism, such as the deliberate spread of smallpox and anthrax. In a November 2002 letter to Sen. Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota), the president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Carl B. Feldbaum, wrote, ?“Without a clear understanding of liability protection, most of our companies, particularly the smaller, innovative companies, will be unable to contract to provide preventive therapeutics or products if it means putting the future of their businesses at risk.?”
The second lesson from the vaccine shortage, then, is that until lawsuit abuse is checked, drug companies will not take the necessary risks involved with producing a sufficient supply of vaccines, much less invest in finding the next generation of life-saving vaccines.
By Lets Ask Edwards Not To Sue
