New state Rep. Mike Simpson is starting off on a bad foot in trying to repeal a 1996 law giving drug companies immunity from most liability lawsuits at a time when the state is trying to attract life-science and medical-technology businesses. We don't support the repeal, nor do we think it would be good, in the long term, for state residents.

The three-bill package is one of the issues that Simpson, a Liberty Township Democrat, campaigned on during last fall's election. Because his own position reflects his family's experience with an ill child some years ago, it is close to his heart. However, as public policy the issue is highly debatable.

Under the 1996 statute, a pharmaceutical company can only be sued if a consumer shows that the company withheld information on a drug's side effects prior to FDA approval. The new legislation would repeal language that gives companies blanket immunity from personal-injury lawsuits; allow people who believed they have been injured since the immunity provision took effect in 1996 to bring suit within three years of enactment; and include pharmaceutical products as goods under the Consumer Protection Act, providing that action can be taken against a company if it fails to represent the risks.

This type of legislation could be disastrous in trying to attract health-care businesses to the state. Does Michigan want a pharmaceutical industry presence? Does Michigan want to expand the life sciences? The choice with this legislation is either to encourage or discourage such a presence. Enact the legislation, and a strong negative message is communicated to new and existing companies.

Pfizer, a drug company that is virtually abandoning Michigan as part of a restructuring, still offered testimony at a recent House hearing on the legislation. The state chamber and every major local chamber of commerce opposes this legislation, along with the drug companies and medical organizations.

To enact this legislation would have a negative economic impact on Michigan, which should not be making life more difficult for companies to invest in the state.