Posted At Lansing State Journal

BY : Leslie Richter

In June 2002, my husband, Richard, had a stroke. He was 61 years old and, except for his arthritis, had been in excellent health.

The following January, after months of rehabilitation that had steadily improved his mobility, he suffered another stroke, this one occurring in his brain stem. It left him unable to move, able to communicate only through blinking his eyes. Forty-four days later, he died.

Like millions of Americans, Richard had been taking Vioxx for the pain stemming from his arthritis. Last year, after manufacturer Merck pulled Vioxx from the market due to its connection to heart attack and stroke, my four children and I realized what had caused a perfectly healthy man to die so unexpectedly. And now we know from Merck's own documents that the company knew of Vioxx's risks but continued to market it anyway.As a Christian woman, my faith has always taught me that God plans when we will be born and when we will die. But in the case of my husband, man interfered.

After we realized the link between Vioxx and Richard's death, my children and I received another unhappy surprise: We learned that Michigan is the only state in the country to give the drug industry absolute immunity when its products cause harm. That's because in 1996, then-Gov. John Engler signed into law a bill that provides immunity for pharmaceutical companies and prevents people like me from holding companies like Merck accountable.

My family has no recourse against Merck because of this law.

It doesn't make sense that drug companies are immune from responsibility when we hold auto makers, toy makers and everyone else accountable for their products. Merck made $2 billion a year in worldwide sales of Vioxx. The company got rich selling a drug it knew to be dangerous.

My husband died because Merck was more worried about protecting its profits than about protecting people's health.

Democrats have introduced bills to repeal the 1996 law and to make the repeal retroactive so that those harmed by prescription drugs since 1996 can hold drug companies accountable and end the drug industry's exemption from the Consumer Protection Act. Unfortunately, Republicans have resisted these important bills.

Big pharmaceutical companies are making billions of dollars on drugs that have harmed thousands of people in Michigan, leaving them with lifelong disabilities, overwhelming medical bills and, sometimes, the loss of a loved one.

We must demand our legislators put the people of Michigan above the drug industry. We must demand accountability for an industry that has gotten rich by marketing drugs it knew to be harmful.

I think about my husband every day. I know he should be here with me, and that I will never get him back.

So I am honoring Richard's memory by being his voice, since his voice was taken from him, and speaking up against Michigan's unjust law.