Dallas City Wire

Kasia Mulligan, the spokesperson for Patients Come First (PCF), a national healthcare reform organization, said the increase of litigation against medical research firms is a "disservice" to patients, as they often force firms to decrease their research and innovation efforts. 

"The impact on medical innovation is clear, with litigation targeting companies at the forefront of medical advancement," Mulligan wrote in an op-ed in Real Clear Health. "When these companies face continuous legal challenges, they must redirect resources away from research and development and toward defending themselves in court."

"This diminishing investment or delay in research stifles the development of new cures and treatments, doing a disservice to those at the receiving end of their efforts – patients," she wrote. 

An increase in tort cases over the last several years have caused many researchers and organizations to move away from research in order to protect themselves in court. 

"Lawyers who care more about their payout from lawsuits against innovators do a disservice to patients and those they claim to represent," Mulligan added later in the article. "Instead of prioritizing patient care and access to innovative treatments, these legal battles often become profit-driven pursuits that block progress."

Yaël Ossowski, the deputy director for the Consumer Choice Center (CCC), in light of the decisions seemingly made in a litigation case against Johnson and Johnson for harm caused by trace amounts of asbestos in their baby powder products, explained that many patients never get the chance to receive the payments they are due for harm caused to them, due to lawyer's seeking higher payouts for themselves. 

LTL Management, J&J’s Texas-based subsidiary, has been fighting over 61,000 cases of consumers claiming their products caused them harm. 

Mulligan has been the founder of her own consulting firm, Elevated Navigation, LLC, as well as an executive with several D.C.-based communications firms, according to her LinkedIn profile. She previously worked as communications director for U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and as manager of external affairs for the American Enterprise Institute.

The PCF website says it will “strive to put patients at the forefront of healthcare” through “advocacy, science, education, and collaboration” on issues including prescription drug payments and discounts, co-pay assistance, government drug price negotiations, and the federal 340b drug discount program, among others.