February 6, 2002

Thank you Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. I am pleased today to testify about a subject with which I have become all too familiar: class action lawsuit abuses in Jefferson County, Mississippi.

I would like to discuss the consequences of these unchecked abuses – both to businesses and the community as a whole – that have turned my American dream into an American nightmare.

I am not your typical Southern belle. I was born in Guatemala and moved to New York in 1958 in search of a future and to be with my brother who was my legal guardian. After a few years of working factory jobs and at the local automat – my English wasn’t as good in those days – I decided to serve my new homeland. Seeking travel and expanded horizons, on the advice of a friend, I enlisted in the Marines. The travel – between South and North Carolina – wasn’t quite as exciting as expected, but it did come with quite a few perks. Three-and-half years into my tour, I met my husband, Navy Seaman Fourth Class Mitchell Bankston, at Camp Lejeune.

My husband had a dream – to own and run a small pharmacy. After graduation from Ole Miss, and stints in Vicksburg, Greenville and Meridian, he found a drugstore he could call his very own in Fayette in 1971.

Through long hours and hard work, Mitch built a solid reputation as a caring, honest pharmacist in Fayette – the town we called home and where we raised our two sons.

Then, in 1999, our world and dreams were shaken to their foundation. Bankston Drugstore was named as a defendant in the national Fen-Phen class action lawsuit. Why were we singled out as a defendant in a massive suit against one of the nation’s largest drug companies? We filled prescriptions of this FDA-approved drug for patients in Jefferson County. We kept accurate records of prescriptions dispensed – as required by law – for five years, providing the trial lawyers with a virtual database of potential clients. And, we were the only drugstore in Jefferson County. By naming us as a defendant, the trial lawyers were able to keep the case in the county.

Mitch was mostly concerned about what our customers would think. In a small town like Fayette, news travels fast, and Mitch had worked hard to gain the trust and respect of the community. He had always taken the utmost caution and care with his patients, and his honesty and ethics were what mattered most to him.

But at that time, we didn’t understand the size and scope of the mountain that had been planted in front of us. Our life’s work was merely a means to an end for trial lawyers seeking to cash in on lucrative class actions – a back door into the Jefferson County court system.

Sadly, within three weeks of being named in the lawsuit, my husband, a 58-year-old in good health, died suddenly of a massive heart attack. The shock had barely subsided in December when I was called to testify in the first Fen-phen trial. By January 1, 2000, I was out of the pharmacy business – having sold the drugstore – but still deeply mired in lawsuits.

Bankston Drugstore has been named as a defendant in hundreds of lawsuits brought by individual plaintiffs against a variety of pharmaceutical manufacturers. Fen-phen. Propulsid. Rezulin. Baycol. Initially, some customers questioned whether prescriptions had been filled incorrectly. The bookwork has become so extensive that I’ve lost track of the specific cases, but still I get named as a defendant time and again.

Jefferson is a poor county, and the attorneys handling these claims have aggressively marketed their actions as tantamount to winning the lottery. Nor are their efforts hurt by rumors that five plaintiffs in the first Fen-phen case split $150 million between them.

But I believe that the lawsuit frenzy has done more harm than good to our community. Businesses will not relocate to Jefferson County because of fear of litigation. And, the county’s lawsuit-friendly environment has driven liability insurance rates through the roof, giving small business owners all over Fayette additional headaches they don’t need. Business is hard enough without having to constantly look over your shoulder wondering where the next lawsuit is coming from.

No small business should have to endure the nightmares I have experienced. In using Bankston Drugstore as a springboard into the Jefferson County courts, class action attorneys have caused me to spend countless hours retrieving information for potential plaintiffs. I have been dragged into court on numerous occasions to testify. I have endured the whispers and questions of my customers and neighbors wondering what we did to end up in court so often. And, I have spent many sleepless nights wondering if my business would survive the tidal wave of lawsuits cresting over it.

These lawsuits continue to this very day, two years after I sold my business. I’m not a lawyer, but to me, something is wrong with our legal system when innocent bystanders are little more than pawns for lawyers seeking to strike it rich in Jefferson County – or any other county in the United States where lawsuits are “big business.” I urge you to pass legislation that reforms our legal system and prevents lawsuit abuses such as those that plagued my business and my family for the past three years.

Thank you for your attention. At this time, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.