To the editor:
Re the Dec. 24 guest opinion by Roger Bate, "Tort abuse keeping safe drugs from the market":
This article argues against allowing negligent drug companies to be sued, so long as those companies' faulty products have obtained minimal Food and Drug Administration approval.
But such lawsuits have provided the FDA with an essential complement to its work for at least 150 years. In fact, it was not until the arrival of the corporate-friendly Bush administration that such radical and misguided arguments were even raised.
Ultimately, what Bate is advocating is total immunity for drug companies that hurt people - a view as dangerous as it is unprecedented.
ANDY HOFFMAN
Attorney and policy analyst
Center for Justice & Democracy
New York, N.Y.
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