The Cooper Firm

It’s Old Fashioned Responsibility

Most tort reform proposals, however, serve to protect the agenda of those who do not believe in personal and corporate responsibility. The Governor’s medical device immunity legislation is a good example. Our governor suggests that, since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates medical device manufacturing, these (approved) manufacturers should have immunity even when their defective products cause severe injury or death. The Governor succinctly summarized the primary reason for this legislation when he said, “I believe that FDA approval should mean something.” Recent stories, however, have shown that the FDA is like any other federal bureaucracy. The FDA has recently been the subject of numerous controversies, including alleged corruption and mismanagement within the organization stemming from the approval of untested medical devices and from financial conflicts of interest. 

For example, the FDA is responsible for making sure food sold to consumers is safe. As we all know by now, the FDA failed to protect the public from contaminated peanut products made and distributed by a company in Georgia. According to the Governor’s reasoning, this company should have immunity since the peanut company was subject to FDA oversight. 

Who Will Benefit and Who Will be Harmed?

Why is the Governor pushing this proposal? The answer is, unfortunately, very simple. Powerful corporate interests in Georgia have influential lobbyists who see this as an opportunity to pass laws to absolve them of any responsibilities for their negligent, and in some cases reckless conduct, which injures or kills consumers in Georgia. These corporate interests use the “tort reform” language in an effort to get the legislature to pass laws that shield them from responsibility. 

The persons who are harmed by these laws are those who can least afford it.  Families who have a parent die as a result of a defective medical device may face financial ruin. Parents who have a child severely injured by a medical device may go bankrupt having to pay the medical expenses to care for their child. All the while, the corporations that should be held responsible are allowed to go free.

Good Men Take Action

This law is not right. It is not just. Most importantly, this law violates the biblical admonition to care for the poor and the oppressed.  So, next time you hear someone say we need to pass tort reform laws to stop frivolous lawsuits, take the time to actually understand the issue–and even further, please take time to write to your congressmen and our Governor about this important issue. As Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”