Preemption: Taking Away Your Day in Court at Top of Supreme Court's List
I have written several earlier posts on the issue of preemption and how important it is for the average American to understand how significant this issue is to your right to have your day in court. This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing and deciding the case of Levine v. Wyeth. The issue has caused such a stir that 47 our of 50 state attorney generals submitted "friend of the court" briefs to the Supreme Court about this issue supporting the right for people to continue to be able to sue about a product even thought a federal agency such as the FDA has approved the drug for sale. One of my favorite sites, Pharmalot, has a post on this and links to the various briefs that have been submitted to the Supreme Court on this issue. Boston Globe also has article discussing the filing of the 47 "friend of the court" briefs by the various state attorney generals.
What I find most interesting is that this is a "states rights" issue. That is, even if the federal government through its agencies approves a product for sale, states should still have the right, through its court system, to allow its citizens to seek redress if they are injured by these approved products. Historically, "states rights" and the concept of smaller federal government has been a big issue supported, at least in words, by the Republican party. However on this issue, as shown by George Bush's push to have various federal agencies include language in their rulings indicating the agencies rulings preempt state law, the Republicans have pushed hard to have preemption be the law of the land. Guess the support of big business and corporate America over the average consumer, wins out over "states rights". Why??? One word answer....$$$$.
