Product liability
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Senate does not agree to close debate on S 687 on June 29, effectively killing the bill for this congressional session. After losing two cloture votes on the bill, which would establish a uniform product liability code, bill supporters succumbed to a filibuster in the face of the Senate's tight legislative schedule. Following a first cloture vote June 28, which failed 54-44, chief sponsor Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) agreed to support an amendment offered by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.) to eliminate a provision of S 687 that would limit liability for punitive damages for makers of drugs or devices that have received premarket approval from FDA. However, a second cloture vote failed 57-41 before the amendment could be brought up for a vote