«The class action is a further guarantee for the consumer that must be introduced in Italy. But the law on collective action for damages, in addition to protecting the consumer, must also protect the industries against the risk of blackmail and damages deriving from the long times of civil justice. This class action, without a legal reorganization and without the specialization of the filter judge, could block the research activities in the pharmaceutical field in Italy».
Sergio Dompé, president of Farmindustria and former president of the Biotech association, has no doubts about the seriousness of the impact of a poorly structured class action on the world of pharmaceutical companies. In an interview with Il Sole-24 Ore, Dompé welcomes collective compensation but raises an alarm on the risks that the country is running if the law does not resolve three issues: the timing of justice, the specialization of the judge who decides the admissibility of claims and the assessment of who will be entitled to act. Knots that will tighten like a noose around the neck of the industries.
It is still too early to tell what the class action will be like: after the blitz by Senators Manzione-Bordon, corrections are coming from the Government and the Chamber…
The class action is an important guarantee for the consumer and it must be done, but excessive penalties for the industries must be avoided. They risk dramatically increasing the legal risks for businesses.
What are the penalties that alarm the most?
The current text of the law leaves open too many questions: there is no certainty about the timing of justice, how many days, months, years will a company have to wait to find out if an unfounded or blackmailing class action will be inadmissible? How long will it take before the size of the compensation amount is established? Will the judge have the appropriate skills to deal with damages in specialist fields? Will the law be retroactive, will it heal previous contractual and non-contractual acts?
The "health" sector in the USA, the motherland of the class action, is under attack: will the same happen in Italy?
In Italy we have one of the best relationships between quality and price in the accessibility of medicines in Europe. But in the meantime the lawsuits in the health field are increasing at a dizzying rate, in cosmetic surgery the legal actions have a Rossinian crescendo. No class action. The provision in the Finance Law which increases the deductibility of charges on new research contracts is a very important step and we are grateful to the Government for it. But if a poorly structured class action were to take off in the Budget Law itself, I fear the blockage in clinical trials in pharmaceutical research: there are very often unforeseen side effects and companies will not run the risk of a collective action which, in the absence of certain justice times, specialized judges and effective filters, could enormously damage the industry. Who will not choose the path of expatriation? With my company I do pharmaceutical research in the USA and there I am not afraid of class action, in Italy I would like to have at least the same guarantees. Isabella Bufacchi – Il Sole 24 Ore of 05/12/2007 REGULATIONS AND TAXES p. 32
