Senate Bill 797, which would ban the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) from uses in baby bottles and formula containers, has passed the state Senate and will now go to the Assembly. The bill is authored by Senators Fran Pavley and Carol Liu.
The bill, which CJAC opposes, is a remake of Senate Bill 1713 (Migden) of the last legislative session. That bill died on the Assembly floor.
The Civil Justice Association of California opposes the bill because it is likely that banning a safe product -- BPA has been approved by the FDA and the European Food Safety Agency -- will lead to additional lawsuits.
This is what happened with silicone breast implants. The makers of the silicone implants had 150 lawsuits in the 30 years prior to an FDA ban, and more than 5,000 a year in each of the four years after the ban. The implants were ultimately determined to be safe -- but not until the company that made them went bankrupt as a result of the lawsuits.
The Civil Justice Association of California is concerned because almost half of the national class action lawsuits regarding BPA originated in California.