There's money in it, maybe for the plaintiffs attorneys. But there is also the Holy Grail of overturing FDA pre-emption. Here is the logic driving the extremists in the tort community justifying yet another assault on the thin reed that Glaxo somehow deceived the FDA and the entire psychiatric community on the basis of one small (published study) but for the lack of intervention of trial attorney discovery power:
The reason that jury decisions may be superior to FDA decisions is that jurors often have superior information upon which to base their decision. Thanks to the discovery process, jurors often see reports, memos, and emails that pharmaceuticals specifically chose not to send to the FDA, such as internal concerns over drug safety and efficacy. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so if Congress chose to grant the FDA subpoena power.
www.tortdeform.com/archives/2008/06/critiquing_the_economic_argume.html
Makes sense to me. Jurors have infinite wisdom because they have infinite power to dredge up every piece of paper a tort lawyer regards as relevant to their case which in turn leads to a bigger, better supply of newer, safer medicines....
The reason that jury decisions may be superior to FDA decisions is that jurors often have superior information upon which to base their decision. Thanks to the discovery process, jurors often see reports, memos, and emails that pharmaceuticals specifically chose not to send to the FDA, such as internal concerns over drug safety and efficacy. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so if Congress chose to grant the FDA subpoena power.
www.tortdeform.com/archives/2008/06/critiquing_the_economic_argume.html
Makes sense to me. Jurors have infinite wisdom because they have infinite power to dredge up every piece of paper a tort lawyer regards as relevant to their case which in turn leads to a bigger, better supply of newer, safer medicines....
