Critics say bird flu bill has too many loopholes

Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 19, 2005

WASHINGTON – Bird flu preparedness legislation headed for a final vote in the Senate this week would create loopholes that critics said would allow vaccine makers to avoid legal liability even if a patient were harmed by negligence.

Democrats and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America derided the provisions Monday as a gift to the drug industry. Supporters of the legal exemption said the lawyers were acting in their own self-interest.

The liability provisions are contained in a mammoth defense spending bill that also would provide $3.8 billion of President Bush’s $7 billion request for pandemic preparedness.

“Washington Republicans tucked a huge Christmas present for the drug companies into the appropriations bill in the dead of night,” Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said. “The liability shield can be granted to any product used to prevent or treat an epidemic or a pandemic, and the (administration) gets to decide what that means.”

The provision, backed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., would allow the government to extend legal immunity to vaccine and drug makers by declaring a public health emergency.

Manufacturers of drugs designated to deal with the emergency would be shielded from lawsuits unless they had engaged in “willful misconduct.”