[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7252-S7253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PRODUCT LIABILITY REFORM ACT

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to make a few very brief 
comments on the Product Liability Reform Act of 1998, which the Senate 
will soon be considering. I will make more lengthy remarks on this bill 
when we return from recess and move on to this bill, but I did not want 
to let the bill's introduction last night pass without comment.
  This bill is a good bill, and I am proud to be one of its original 
co-sponsors. It is the product of incredibly hard work and tremendous 
dedication by Senator Gorton and Senator Rockefeller, and I want to 
congratulate--and thank--them and their staffs for what they have been 
able to achieve. I also want to thank the President for his willingness 
to work with us to come up with a bill that now has his full support.
  I, frankly, would have liked a stronger bill, like the one we passed 
last Congress, but the President vetoed that bill. That is something 
that I think all those of us who support reform have to keep in mind as 
we move forward with this bill. Because even if it doesn't incorporate 
everything we wanted, this bill does offer much--together with the 
promise of the President's signature.
  The President's promise is important not just to those of us who have 
long supported legal reform. It also should be important to my 
colleagues who have not. I hope it prompts them to take a serious look 
at this bill--to put aside preconceived notions they may have of 
product liability reform, and to take a fresh look at what we have 
done.
  Mr. President, this bill offers meaningful--and fair--reform of our 
legal system to redress the system's abuses while at the same time 
protecting consumers' rights. And it contains the provisions of a bill 
Senator McCain and I

[[Page S7253]]

have been working on for a couple of Congresses: the Biomaterials 
Access Assurance Act.
  The Biomaterials bill is the response to a crisis affecting more than 
7 million patients annually who rely on implantable life-saving or 
life-enhancing medical devices--things like pacemakers, heart valves, 
artificial blood vessels, hydrocephalic shunts, and hip and knee 
joints. These patients are at risk of losing access to the devices 
because many suppliers are refusing to sell biomaterial device 
manufacturers the raw materials and component parts that are necessary 
to make the devices. The reason: suppliers no longer want to risk 
having to pay enormous legal fees to defend against product liability 
suits when those legal fees far exceed any profit they make from 
supplying the raw materials for use in implantable devices. Although 
not a single biomaterials supplier has ultimately been held liable so 
far, the actual and potential costs of defending lawsuits has caused 
them to leave this market. A study by Aronoff Associates found that 75 
percent of suppliers surveyed were not willing to sell their raw 
materials to implant manufacturers under current conditions. That study 
predicts that unless this trend is reversed, patients whose lives 
depend on implantable devices may no longer have access to them.
  The Biomaterials title of the Product Liability bill responds to this 
crisis by allowing most suppliers of raw materials and component parts 
for implantable medical devices to gain early dismissal from lawsuits. 
At the same time, by allowing plaintiffs to bring those suppliers back 
into a lawsuit in the rare case that the other defendants are bankrupt 
or otherwise judgment proof, it ensures that plaintiffs won't be left 
without compensation for their injuries if they can prove a supplier 
was at fault. Mr. President, I have a summary of the bill here, and I 
ask unanimous consent that it be printed after this statement in the 
Record.
  I will have a lot more to say about the Biomaterials provisions and 
the entire bill when we return from recess. For now, let me just once 
again congratulate Senator Gorton, Senator Rockefeller and the 
President for their success in forging this compromise bill. I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  There being no objection, the summary was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              Summary of Biomaterials Access Assurance Act

  Title II of the Product Liability Reform Act of 1998 contains the 
provisions of the Lieberman-McCain Biomaterials Access Assurance Act.
  Need For The Biomaterials Bill: The Biomaterials bill responds to a 
looming crisis affecting more than 7 million patients annually who rely 
on implantable life-saving or life-enhancing medical devices such as 
pacemakers, heart valves, artificial blood vessels, hydrocephalic 
shunts, and hip and knee joints. These patients are at risk of losing 
access to the devices because many suppliers are refusing to sell 
biomaterial device manufacturers the raw materials and component parts 
that are necessary to make the devices. The reason: suppliers no longer 
want to risk having to pay enormous legal fees to defend against 
meritless product liability suits when those legal fees far exceed any 
profit they make from supplying the raw materials for use in 
implantable devices. Although not a single biomaterials supplier has 
thus far been held liable, the actual and potential costs of defending 
lawsuits has caused them to leave this market. A study by Aronoff 
Associates found that 75 percent of suppliers surveyed were not willing 
to sell their raw materials to implant manufacturers under current 
conditions. That study predicts that unless this trend is reversed, 
patients whose lives rely on implantable devices may no longer have 
access to them.
  What The Bill Does: To alleviate these problems, the Biomaterials 
bill would do two things. First, with an important exception noted 
below, the bill would immunize suppliers of raw materials and component 
parts from product liability suits, unless (a) the supplier also 
manufactured the implant alleged to have caused harm; (b) the supplier 
sold the implant alleged to have caused harm; or (c) the supplier 
furnished raw materials or component parts that failed to meet 
applicable contractual requirements or specifications. Second, the bill 
would provide raw materials and component parts suppliers with a 
mechanism for making that immunity meaningful by obtaining early 
dismissal from lawsuits.
  What The Bill Does Not Do: The bill does not keep injured plaintiffs 
from gaining compensation for their injuries. First, it leaves lawsuits 
against those involved in the design, manufacture or sale of medical 
devices untouched. Second, it provides a fallback rule if the 
manufacturer or other responsible party is bankrupt or judgment-proof. 
In such cases, a plaintiff may bring the raw materials supplier back 
into a lawsuit if a court concludes that evidence exists to warrant 
holding the supplier liable. Finally, the bill does not cover lawsuits 
involving silicone gel breast implants.


                       THE VERY BAD DEBT BOXSCORE

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, at the close of business yesterday, 
Thursday, June 25, 1998, the federal debt stood at 
$5,504,168,372,205.11 (Five trillion, five hundred four billion, one 
hundred sixty-eight million, three hundred seventy-two thousand, two 
hundred five dollars and eleven cents).
  One year ago, June 25, 1997, the federal debt stood at 
$5,339,644,000,000 (Five trillion, three hundred thirty-nine billion, 
six hundred forty-four million).
  Five years ago, June 25, 1993, the federal debt stood at 
$4,305,269,000,000 (Four trillion, three hundred five billion, two 
hundred sixty-nine million).
  Twenty-five years ago, June 25, 1973, the federal debt stood at 
$452,652,000,000 (Four hundred fifty-two billion, six hundred fifty-two 
million) which reflects a debt increase of more than $5 trillion--
$5,051,516,372,205.11 (Five trillion, fifty-one billion, five hundred 
sixteen million, three hundred seventy-two thousand, two hundred five 
dollars and eleven cents) during the past 25 years.

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