Sen. Cam Ward presented with business award

The Business Council of Alabama (BCA) presented Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, with the Business Champion Award at the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce’s Community Luncheon on Wednesday, June 24. It was the first time this award has been given.

BCA President and CEO William J. Canary presented the award, along with Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama President and CEO Jeremy Arthur and 2015 Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Chair Lisa McMahon.

Alabama’s Chamber of Commerce Association represents over 1 million working Alabamians, Canary said. Due to a recent court decision that adopted a legal theory called "innovator liability," Alabama manufacturers were at risk for liability for generic versions of their products, even though they did not make or sell the generic versions.

The legislation became necessary after the Alabama Supreme Court set the legal community on notice in 2013 in the Weeks v. Wyeth case, and then again on rehearing the same case in 2014. The court held that a brand-name drug manufacturer can be liable for physical injuries caused by generic drugs based on their own products. The BCA filed an amicus brief in the Weeks case along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urging the Supreme Court to reverse itself and warning that adoption of the aberrant “innovator liability” theory would once again make Alabama a magnet for frivolous lawsuits. 

With manufacturing representing 60 percent of the total output in Alabama and employing 12 percent of the state’s workforce, Ward believed the law would have negative ramifications on manufacturers. He sponsored legislation to overturn the law in the Alabama legislature, which was signed into law in May.

“We had to do something,” Canary said. “Fortunately, Senator Ward let the charge.”

Since his election to the Alabama Senate in 2010, Ward has also specialized in economic development and is currently the Executive Director of the Industrial Development Board of Alabaster. Ward serves in District 14, which includes Shelby, Jefferson, Chilton, Bibb and Hale counties.

“The future of our state depends on a strong, vibrant business economy,” Ward said. “When business does well and we have a climate that allows business to grow and thrive, it’s good for our entire state. It makes our state better. It means good things for all of us.”