Ralph speaks to James Zirin, former prosecutor and author of “Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits,” which chronicles how Trump throughout his life has weaponized the court system to his advantage. Plus, we welcome back the director of the Health Research Group for Public Citizen, Dr. Michael Carome, to give us an update on the coronavirus pandemic.
James Zirin is a host and producer of the nationally syndicated TV talk show, “Conversations with Jim Zirin,” which discusses politics, foreign relations, national security, the arts and particularly how the Internet has transformed contemporary life and culture. Mr. Zirin is a leading litigator, having served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the Criminal Division. He has written multiple books, including “Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits”.
“There are limitations to our legal system and one of the great problems… is how do we deal with the problem of someone who has limited resources and needs to sue someone who has virtually unlimited resources. In England, they handle this with something called “loser pays” where if you bring a frivolous lawsuit and you lose you have to pay the other side’s legal fees.”
James Zirin, author of “Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits”
Dr. Michael Carome is the director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen, which is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that stands up to corporate power and holds government accountable. Dr. Carome is an expert on issues of drug and medical device safety, pharmacy compounding, Food and Drug Administration oversight, healthcare policy, and the protection of human research subjects.
“When vaccines and drugs to treat the coronavirus or to prevent the coronavirus… finally are ready to be marketed, it’s critically important that those be made available to everyone in the United States and across the world at no cost. So, we must do away with our usual pharmaceutical company monopoly measures, where profit is the sole goal of the companies. There must not be patenting of these products. And they must be made available at reasonable costs to governments, so they can be delivered to all citizens of the world for free.”
Dr. Michael Carome, director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen
Trump’s Lawsuits/Coronavirus Update