Why Would Lawmakers Want To Kill A Database Designed To Keep Consumers Well Informed Of Product Safety Complaints And Defects
According to news sources, House Republicans are trying to block the launch of a new database which is aimed at protecting consumers by giving them access to product safety complaints within weeks of their submission to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
As an experienced Pennsylvania product liability attorney who has represented individuals and families who have sustained catastrophic injuries and death as a result of using defective products, I find any attempt by lawmakers to kill the new public database to be outrageous. The purpose of the database was to help innocent consumers avoid the risks that follow the use of defective products based upon reports submitted from consumers, healthcare providers, death certificates, and media accounts. According to The Washington Post, language blocking funding for the database was added to a recent White House budget resolution by Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican. Pompeo claimed that the database would “drive jobs overseas", increase the cost for manufacturers and consumers, and be a plaintiffs’ lawyers bar dream. I wonder if Rep. Pompeo or other advocates of the proposal to block funding for the database would feel the same way if they had lost their wife, child, or other loved one due to the rollover of a defectively designed vehicle that manufacturers knew was dangerous yet continued to market.
Unfortunately as a trial lawyer greedy for justice, I think it is time for lawmakers and manufacturers to recognize that safety should never be an option and that safety always triumphs profitability and the consumer’s safety should always come first. Lawmakers and manufacturers of defective products have a social and legal responsibility to the consuming public to manufacture safe products and to immediately inform them when a defect is noted. The blockage of such information to the public will lead to shocking stories of needless deaths and injuries caused by manufacturers and industries putting profits over people and avoids accountability.
Product liability lawyers and trial lawyers are the unsung heroes of society and many times the only voice for the vulnerable and powerless. We must do everything we can to insure that the consuming public is regularly kept informed of defective products within the market place when the knowledge becomes available.
If you or a loved one has sustained a catastrophic personal injury or wrongful death due to a defectively designed product, please feel free to contact one of the experienced Pennsylvania product liability lawyers of Reiff & Bily. Effective January 1, 2011, the Pennsylvania product liability law of Reiff & Bily has joined forces with the legendary Beasley Firm and collectively since 1958, both firms have been awarded in excess of $2 billion dollars representing the rights of catastrophically injured individuals throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and United States. For a free, no obligation consultation contact us online at www.reiffandbily.com or toll free at 1-800-421-9595.
