The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reissued an alert yesterday against the use of preloaded syringes containing either heparin or sodium chloride because these unapproved products may be contaminated.

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A proposal backed by the Bush administration to move most consumer class-action lawsuits against companies from state to federal courts was approved by a U.S. Senate committee as its chairman, Arlen Specter, supported a change that his colleagues warned would undermine the bill.

The five-term Pennsylvania senator, who became Judiciary Committee chairman this year, said he isn't bound by that commitment and supports a Democratic amendment to make it harder for federal judges to dismiss class-action lawsuits. ``These issues are not something which can be decided by a few people making commitments for the entire Senate,'' Specter told reporters in Washington after the panel approved the bill on a 13-5 vote. ``This whole matter is not in concrete, and, where there was talk about having an arrangement with the House, that's an agreement to which I was never a party,'' he said.

The bill's supporters have enough votes to defeat any amendments on the Senate floor, said Stanton Anderson, chief lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which is spearheading efforts to pass the bill. The bill is supported by a coalition of companies, including Ford Motor Co. and Intel Corp.

``It will leave many injured parties who have valid claims with no avenue for relief,'' said Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, the panel's top Democrat. Leahy said the bill would ``deny justice to consumers'' to band together to press claims based on ``multiple state laws.''

Vioxx Example

For example, Delaware Democrat Joseph R. Biden Jr. cited cases filed in New Jersey state courts against Merck & Co. over prescription drug Vioxx. The company pulled the product from the market after the painkiller was linked to heart attacks and strokes.

Companies ``would not be held responsible in a class-action lawsuit for the disease and death caused by their products,'' Biden said. Such lawsuits let plaintiffs seek triple damages to help deter negligence.

The amendment Specter says he supports, proposed by New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman, would require U.S. judges to allow such multistate cases to proceed by applying the law of one of the states.

``I am concerned about the substantive issues and have always felt that Senator Bingaman had a valid point,'' Specter said.

Bingaman's Proposal


Specter said he has told Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist ``I never agreed to a bill'' that leaves out Bingaman's amendment. Still, Specter said he would vote for the bill even if the Senate doesn't adopt Bingaman's proposal.

The idea wasn't debated last year as Democrats blocked a vote on the measure.

The Chamber of Commerce opposes the Bingaman amendment because it ``guts the bill,'' Anderson said. Class-action lawsuits can be structured in different ways to avoid being dismissed by U.S. judges, he said.

Democrats, who blocked a Senate vote on the measure last year, won't try to thwart a vote this year, said assistant Democratic leader Dick Durbin of Illinois.