Drug and Device

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Worth our note is a recent preemption decision in  In re Fosamax (Alendronate Sodium) Products Liability Litigation, 2022 WL 855853 (D.N.J. March 23, 2022).  The case is noteworthy because it contains a cogent and well-reasoned exploration of many of the issues flowing from the Supreme Court’s decision in Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v.

Personal jurisdiction — the issue of where a defendant can be sued — seems like it should be a straightforward issue.  But of course it is not, as the Supreme Court evolves its understanding of minimum contacts, the notion of doing business over the internet develops, state courts apply and misapply ancient “consent” to do…

Today’s post involves Couturier v. Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc.,  2021 WL 2885903 (E.D. La. Jul. 8, 2021).  This products liability action was remanded from the MDL In re: Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2641 (D. Az.).  Plaintiff alleged injuries suffered after being implanted with an Inferior Vena Cava (“IVC”) filter medical device…

Our readers interested in Multi-district Litigation may want to check out recent scholarship from Prof. Brian Fitzpatrick of Vanderbilt Law School.

In Many Minds, Many MDL Judges, 84 J. L. & Contemporary Prob. (2021, Forthcoming), the Professor asserts that the federal MDL statute may concentrate more power in the hands of a single person than…

In reviewing the grant of summary judgment to a medical device manufacturer, the Third Circuit has certified two legal issues to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for possible guidance.  MELISSA EBERT, Appellant v. C.R. BARD, INC.; BARD PERIPHERAL VASCULAR INC., a subsidiary &/or division of Defendant C.R. Bard, Inc., No. 20-2139, 2021 WL 2656690, at *1…

Today’s post looks at Rayes v. Novartis Pharms. Corp., No. EDCV21201JGBKKX, 2021 WL 2410677 (C.D. Cal. June 11, 2021), which contains an interesting discussion of an aspect of drug product preemption.  The Supreme Court discussed in Wyeth and later clarified in Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht, 139 S. Ct. 1668, 1679 (2019),…

Just the facts, as Shook is involved in the litigation.  But worth a read is In re Taxotere (Docetaxel) Prod. Liab. Litig., 994 F.3d 704 (5th Cir. 2021).

There the Fifth Circuit upheld the lower court’s decision granting defendant summary judgment in  suit alleging the pharmaceutical company failed to warn that its lifesaving chemotherapy drug…

A California judge overseeing the JCCP for diabetes drugs recently made a significant ruling, dismissing more than 500 claims in the coordinated proceeding that alleged the drugs were linked to pancreatic cancer.  In Re Byetta Cases, No. JCCP4574, 2021 WL 2462800 (Cal.Super. Apr. 06, 2021). The Court made both evidentiary rulings regarding plaintiffs’ experts…

A federal court in Alabama recently issued an interesting decision on defendant’s motion to exclude plaintiff’s expert evidence in a medical device case.  See Lowery v. Sanofi-Aventis LLC, 2021 WL 872620 (N.D. Ala. Mar. 9, 2021).

Plaintiff advanced claims based on the allegation that he suffered injuries after Defendant’s medical device, Synvisc-One, was injected into…