One example of the erosive effects preemption can have on the rights of individuals is evident in the Supreme Court's recent decision Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. There the Court held that an individual injured by a defective medical device which had been approved by the FDA prior to being marketed could not recover for his injuries even though he had a remedy under state law. In other words, approval of the product by federal bureaucrats (notwithstanding defects in its design or manufacture) immunized the manufacturer from accountability for its wrongdoing.
Principled conservatives should be outraged by this result. It takes control away from the people at the local level, allows wrong doers to avoid the consequences of their neglect, and shuts the doors of state courthouses to the victims of the wrongdoing. The decision of FDA bureaucrats trumps the judgment of lawmakers and jurors in the communities where the injuries occurred.
Do you think the executives at Medtronic learned any lessons?
The big winners, of course, are the corporations which the FDA regulates. Sadly recent events suggest that FDA bureaucrats view the corporations they regulate as their principal constituency, rather than the American people whose safety is affected by the drugs and devices they allow to be put on the market. The blessing of the FDA in cases like Riegel immunizes corporate wrongdoers from accountability and tramples upon the rights of the individual. The great equalizer between the weak and the powerful, the local jury, is not an option for an injured victim. Neither is petitioning one's own state or local government for relief since their traditional authority has been preempted by the feds.
Wherever conservatives gather, state's rights and smaller government has been the mustering call. But when it comes to protecting the right to seek redress before a jury of one's peers, a quintessential conservative principle, the ranks are slim. Though conservatives maintain they trust the people, many do not act that way when it comes to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Conservatives have often been in the foreground of undermining the right to trial by jury. As that right erodes, however, the principles of limited government and personal accountability will crumble.