[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         A DISTURBING DECISION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I am tempted to try and respond to the 
previous speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts, and I will just 
simply say we will be debating welfare this week and if the gentleman 
represented a welfare program that was working, I do not think there 
would be the need for change and change is what we are trying to do to 
make it work better. I want to talk about a niche of the welfare 
problem.
  In the 1980's, approximately one-half of the hemophilia community in 
the United States, that is between 8,000 and 10,000 people, became 
infected with the virus that causes AIDS through the use of 
contaminated blood clotting products, products which U.S. Government 
agencies have direct regulation and oversight over. More than 30 of my 
colleagues from both sides of the aisle have joined me already in 
offering H.R. 1023. It is a bill to establish a government compensation 
program for the victims of this tragedy. This bill is known as the 
Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act, named for the 15-year-old Florida 
boy who died of hemophilia-associated AIDS in 1992, that I knew.
  Its premise is that the Federal Government which has taken on the 
unique obligation to safeguard the blood supply and regulate the sale 
of blood products failed to respond to clear warning signs in time to 
prevent the tragedy. Records indicate that there were serious red flags 
about the dangers of blood-borne diseases even in the early 1980's 
although our understanding of course of the implications of AIDS has 
evolved in the years somewhat after that.
  Hemophilia sufferers are often described as the canaries in the coal 
mine because when something goes wrong with the blood supply they 
usually succumb first because they use a blood clotting factors known 
as Factor. A single dose of Factor is often manufactured from the 
pooled blood of thousands of people, placing hemophiliacs at an 
extraordinary risk for blood-borne diseases.
  According to industry estimates from the early 1980's, the blood of 
one infected donor could end up contaminating between half a million to 
5 million units of Factor, potentially infecting as many as 125 
hemophiliacs in a given year. The risks for hemophiliacs were enormous 
during that crucial period of time and we are seeing the results today. 
Nearly 2,000 hemophiliacs died of AIDS between 1981 and 1993 from 
contaminated blood and many more including members of their families 
are now suffering from its debilitating effects. My view has been that 
the Federal Government must share their part of the responsibility for 
what happended with the industry that manufacturers blood products 
because we have responsibility for oversight.
  The hemophilia community is currently seeking redress from four major 
pharmaceutical companies through the courts. They have always known 
that this would be an uphill fight. Manufacturers of blood products 
have special protection from liability under most State laws which 
grant them status as providers of services, not products, when they 
make blood products. As a result, seeking judicial redress for harm 
caused by these products is a very difficult undertaking. Still, 
hemophiliacs believed in their case and have pursued their legal 
options as is their right in a free society. However, over this 
weekend, something very disturbing happened. The Seventh U.S. Circuit 
Court of Appeals in Illinois issued an unsettling ruling in a pending 
negligence class action lawsuit.
  Writing for the court in overturning an earlier ruling regarding 
certification of the class, Judge Richard Posner appears to have 
concluded that this group of victims may not constitute a class because 
doing so could ``hurl the industry into bankruptcy.''
  The judge seemed highly concerned that despite the protections that 
already exist for blood product manufacturers under State law, a jury 
in a class action case could provide awards that would ruin the 
industry.
  I am troubled by what appears to be a greater concern on the part of 
the judge for the solvency of a multibillion-dollar industry than the 
rights of victims to join together in seeking justice here in America.
  As a member of this House, I have no intention of becoming involved 
in a pending matter before the judiciary obviously, especially since 
reports suggest that the claimants will appeal the ruling. Still as we 
seek to do our part in meeting Government's obligation to victims of 
hemophilia-associated AIDS, we have got to recognize that the judicial 
option may be closing for these victims, perhaps providing even greater 
impetus for relief coming from the U.S. Congress.
  Therefore, I urge my colleagues to look closely at H.R. 1023, the 
Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act. It is the right thing to do and 
may be the only way out for these folks. It is the right thing to do 
now, this week especially, because this is the week we are discussing 
meaningful ways to deliver relief to truly needy Americans. Believe me, 
these 8,000 to 10,000 victims are people who are in desperate need.


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