About 80 protesters marched in front of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday afternoon, calling it the chamber of corruption and demanding prescription drug reform.
AFL-CIO members from around the state marched from the Michigan AFL-CIO office, 419 S. Washington Square in Lansing, to the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 600 S. Walnut St. in Lansing.
Protesters support repealing a 1996 state law that only allows liability lawsuits against drug companies approved by the Food and Drug Administration if the companies misled the FDA about their products. Michigan is the only state to have this type of law, said Dan Farough, state House Democrats spokesperson.
The rally was held at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce because the chamber sent letters to voters to "attack" legislators who discussed the repeal, said Mark Gaffney, president of Michigan's AFL-CIO.
"Do you think our Legislature ought to debate the issue of the day? Of course," Gaffney said.
But the chamber's letters were setting the record straight and were in response to radio ads in support of the repeal, said Wendy Hofmeyer, director of health policy and human resources for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
If the 1996 law was repealed, it would open a flood of lawsuits from Michigan residents, Hofmeyer said.
"Businesses would have to spend millions of dollars," she said. "That would be counterproductive to money they could be spending on research and development and just bringing life-saving drugs into the market."
Reducing drug prices would also be hurtful because drug companies would have to cut costs elsewhere, such as from research and development, Hofmeyer said.
Peter VonDrak of Flushing, Mich., spoke at the protest about the negative impact Vioxx has had on his life. VonDrak said he suffered a massive stroke after he started taking Vioxx a few years ago for leg pain.
Before, he had been very active and had plans to retire early and practice law. But after a few strokes, VonDrak was left paralyzed on his left side, blind in one eye and without peripheral vision in the other.
"I'm upset; it's not fair for me," he said of the 1996 law. "Michigan residents have no recourse."
In addition to lowering drug prices and allowing lawsuits against drug companies, protesters advocated for requiring drug trial information to be available to everyone, so people can make better medical decisions.
