Danaher Corp., whose subsidiary Kerr is the largest manufacturer of toxic mercury amalgam, faces the twin specters of shareholder dissatisfaction and litigation exposure.
1. Shareholders oppose Danaher’s pro-amalgam policy
Sister Valerie Heinonen of the Ursuline Sisters, Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy Project, and I attended the Danaher annual meeting on May 5, presenting our resolution that the corporation consider a phase-out of manufacturing amalgam. Our proposal got 16.49% of the shareholder vote, an astonishingly high number for a first-time out. Clearly, many shareholders want Danaher to give amalgam the heave-ho. Read more...
2. President Obama tells agencies to stop pre-empting victim remedies
In a reversal of Bush Administration policies, President Obama has directed agencies to preserve consumer remedies when it writes regulations. This is one advantage of the FDA rule issuing this year rather than last. (The Supreme Court has ruled that consumer remedies are pre-empted with Class III devices, Riegel v. Medtronic, 552 U.S.__ (2008), but allowed with Class II devices, Medtronic v.Lohr, 518 U.S. 470 (1996)).
3. Throughout 2009, Consumers for Dental Choice has been laying the groundwork for litigation should Danaher continue to dig in its heels
Danaher has both tarnished its reputation and increased its legal exposure by mounting a callous defense of two-tiered dentistry (what an NAACP witness before Congress called “choice for the rich and mercury for the poor”); www.toxicteeth.org/Danaher_supports_Two-Tiered_dentistry.doc At the Danaher board meeting, we challenged --- and we will continue to challenge -- this immoral position
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Charlie
30 May 2009
Charles G. Brown, National Counsel
Consumers for Dental Choice
316 F St., N.E., Suite 210 , Washington, DC 20002
Ph. 202.544-6333; fax 202.544-6331
charlie@toxicteeth.org