Political Quotes

“I speak as both the son of a doctor and the son of a nurse. I introduced the Vioxx amendment that would prohibit this special liability protection for the pharmaceutical companies. Many Americans across the country are watching the Vioxx trial in Texas where the Ernst family has lost their loved one, a marathon runner, a personal trainer, who died a premature death because he took Merck's Vioxx medication, and the FDA was not provided with all the information that should have warned of the dangers from that. According to the FDA's doctor, approximately 55,000 premature deaths occurred because of Vioxx. That is the trial the American people are watching. And then they tune in here to this Congress. What is this Congress trying to do? They are trying to protect Merck and the other pharmaceutical companies in a way that no other industry would get that type of protection from any liability. This Congress would intervene in that civil trial down in Texas where the Ernst family is trying to get their proper redress from the premature death of a marathon runner who had a heart attack because the information was withheld. The irony of this whole situation is just last year, this Congress, bipartisan, said the FDA did not have the proper resources to regulate these medications. And now you want to hide behind the FDA's Good Housekeeping seal to give protection to an industry in a way that no other industry in America gets.…”