President Biden on the way out the door provided pardons to his whole family and other notorious figures. The press spent a great deal of ink on these pardons, but the President’s parting gift with the most negative impact does not come from his pardons, but what his administration chose to say on the way out the door.

In early January, with about a couple weeks left in the Biden Administration, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy came out throwing punches at the alcohol industry, claiming a link between alcohol use and cancer and that there should be warning labels on alcohol.

Interestingly enough, there was no finding on the impact of whether moderate drinkers face the same risk of cancer as heavy drinkers.

But it doesn’t matter, because the Surgeon General’s words were enough to cause great potential harm to the liquor industry.

It didn’t take long for Personal Injury Law Firm, Parker Waichman to target the liquor industry based on the Surgeon General’s words. A Personal Injury Law Firm is one of those firms that you see on the billboards as you ride along the highway.

The firm put up a webpage looking for clients so it could potentially target the liquor industry. https://www.yourlawyer.com/article/u-s-surgeon-general-calls-for-cancer-warnings-on-alcohol-products

Relying on the Surgeon General’s call for cancer warning labels on alcohol, the law firm uses this to state that despite conclusive evidence that alcohol is linked to cancer, the alcohol manufacturers continued to market without providing adequate warnings to customers. It further takes the position that the Surgeon General’s report stands for the proposition that as little as one drink per day can lead to increased cancer risk.

The firm is clearly targeting the alcohol industry for future lawsuits. Its website states, “Victims who develop cancer linked to alcohol consumption may have the right to file a product liability lawsuit against alcohol manufacturers for failing to warn about the risks.”

What is the future

People have asked me if alcohol will become like tobacco, where our use will be stigmatized and our companies sued in mass lawsuits?

I don’t think we will be like tobacco in that the use of our product will become stigmatized in the same way.

However, what is scary is the depths these lawsuits could take. The tobacco industry in America was generally run by big players and there was not a large mass of companies.

The alcohol industry has major players, but also has thousands of small producers from wine growers to craft distillers. Everyone in the alcohol industry could be touched by the tentacles of plaintiff attorneys. In many industries class action lawyers have been known to send ransom letters to small companies demanding payment or else they will sue. As many small companies can’t afford the legal fees, they pay the ransom.

And for the major players, it also becomes a cost benefit analysis, if the lawsuit gets past the motion to dismiss then settlement has a better chance of occurring.

It is unfortunate that in its waning days the Biden administration provided a gift to the class action and personal injury lawyers to the detriment of the industry.

But pardons and parting gifts came in droves in between nap time, and although the Surgeon General’s report seemed like something that was farcical and could be ignored, I unfortunately think it will do damage to the industry.

Get ready as the shakedown artist have been given the green light by the outgoing Surgeon General to target the industry!