Keep the Trial Bar Out of Food and Drug Safety
Make America Healthy Again, a battle cry for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, is an important idea that is now being embraced by Americans across the country following his election. As advocates look to enact changes, it’s important to remember that Congress has delegated the vital responsibility of ensuring the safety of the public for our food, pharmaceuticals and medical products and technology to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The FDA, with an annual budget of in excess of $7.2 billion annually has developed extensive regulations and enforcement mechanisms in order to carry out this important responsibility. In the case of new medications, the approval process, including research and development and multiple clinical trials, takes many years and can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
In recent weeks, President-Elect Donald Trump has rolled out his cabinet picks and those he has selected to lead federal agencies as his administration looks to overhaul the federal government. One such appointment that has garnered great attention is that of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who has been tapped to serve as Secretary of HHS. While Mr. Kennedy has an extensive history as an advocate on many relevant public health issues, he also has a history of working with the organized trial bar on these and other issues. For example, he served as counsel for Morgan & Morgan in recent years, the largest such firm. During his partnership with the firm, he was involved in litigation against Monsanto alleging its product, RoundUp, caused users to develop Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, a theory that has been widely rejected by a majority of the scientific community. He also previously founded an environmental law firm to represent private plaintiffs in litigation against the oil and gas industry.
Whether it is Mr. Kennedy or anyone in the federal government in a position of responsibility, the authority to protect the public should be carried out by those officials who are elected or appointed, not personal injury lawyers. Most states and countless local jurisdictions have sought to accomplish policy objectives through litigation brought by outside lawyers who have a profit motive. The result inevitably in these cases is that lawyers get paid, often with major windfalls to them, and the public interest is secondary at best. To date, the federal government has not hired contingency fee lawyers to represent the public, and it should not do so going forward. Instead, if any agency of the federal government decides to pursue litigation, any such decisions in a case should be undertaken by officials who are accountable to the public, not personal injury lawyers seeking to maximize their fees.
