This week, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, held an important hearing on Whether FDA Regulation Should Bar Liability Claims. Among the witnesses in opposition to FDA rules preempting state common law rights were actor Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Quaid, former FDA commissioner David Kessler and law professor David Vladeck. From Dennis and Kimberly Quaid's testimony:

Thank you for inviting my wife, Kimberly, and me here today to share our experience as parents of two infants harmed by the negligence of a prescription drug manufacturer. As I’ll explain, our newborn twins nearly died because of a drug company’s failure to put safety first....A federal ban on lawsuits against drug companies would not just deny victims compensation for the harm they experience. It would also relieve drug companies of their responsibility to make products as safe as possible, and especially to correct drug problems when they are most often discovered – years after their drugs are on the market.