Dear Citizens for Health Supporter,
At the end of 2005, Congress passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2006. Unfortunately, provisions to allow manufacturers of virtually any drug or vaccine to escape responsibility for gross negligence or even criminal acts were included in the final Defense funding bill. These provisions were included without Congressional debate or public scrutiny, and fail the basic test of fairness by including only an empty shell of a compensation program for injured patients with none of the funding needed to make compensation a reality.
This is typical of those wishing to implement policy that would never pass were it introduced as a separate piece of legislation, and circumvents our right to be heard as concerned citizens.
However, there is an effort mounting in Congress to repeal these provisions and restore consumers' right to compensation in the event they are injured as a result of using a particular drug or vaccine. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is working with her like-minded Senate colleagues and urging the Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House to schedule action on legislation that would repeal these provisions.
Click here to send a letter to your representatives urging them to support efforts to repeal the liability protections passed in the Defense Department bill. |
