Joint Congressional Briefing on PREP Act Protections for Additive Manufacturers

The Additive Manufacturing Coalition held a joint briefing with the Congressional Manufacturing Caucus on liability protections for additive manufacturers who stepped up to produce PPE for front-line health care workers. The briefing for Congressional staff was designed to both highlight the manner in which additive manufacturers responded to the pandemic by producing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to ensure the safety of health care workers during the pandemic, as well as to express the need for liability protections under the PREP Act be applied consistently across the U.S. 

Speakers included:

Heidi Hertel, Founder of Fitz Frames (www.fitzframes.com) spoke about the role her company is playing in providing eye protection during the pandemic.

Shaun Troxler – Associate General Counsel – North Carolina State University – spoke on the efforts at the university to respond to the pandemic as well as the legal considerations and concerns they had and steps they took to protect the institution from future litigation.

Erik Swanholt – Partner Foley and Lardner, LLP – gave a presentation on the PREP Act (Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act) and how the implementation of the Act has created an inconsistent application of the law across the country.