The legal doctrine we discuss today, the reporter’s privilege, lies outside our traditional bailiwick but is worth a quick visit. Recognized in most states, the reporter’s privilege—also known as the journalist’s or newsman’s privilege—is an absolute or conditional “protection, under constitutional or statutory law, from being compelled to testify about confidential information or sources.” Black’s
Andrew Tauber
Drug Manufacturer’s Claims Against Compounding Pharmacy Held Impliedly Preempted by S.D. Tex. Notwithstanding Fifth Circuit’s Spano Decision
This post is solely from the non-Reed Smith side of the Blog.
A court within the Fifth Circuit has held that the FDCA impliedly preempts unfair-competition and consumer-protection claims asserted by a drug manufacturer against a compounding pharmacy. Despite generally rooting for drug manufacturers, we are okay with the decision, Zyla Life Scis., LLC v.
Eighth-Circuit Court Applies Fraudulent Misjoinder Doctrine to Deny Remand
As we recently noted when discussing snap removals, corporate defendants sued by individuals are generally at a disadvantage when forced to litigate in state rather than federal court. We know this and plaintiffs know this. It is why plaintiffs commonly file suit in state court, why corporate defendants typically remove cases to federal court…
Snap Removal Zapped by S.D. Cal.
[This post is not from the Reed Smith side of the blog.]
Litigation is a game. It is a game with real stakes and broad implications, but it is nonetheless a game played according to certain rules. As in all games, the participants—plaintiffs and defendants alike—try to maximize their advantage within those rules.
In litigation…
Contract Claim Based on Alleged CGMP Violations Held Impliedly Preempted
As defense attorneys who represent drug and device companies, we generally cheer when a state-law claim is held preempted by the FDCA. We are, however, not sure whether to cheer the decision we discuss today, Thogus Products Co. v. Bleep, LLC, 2023 WL 5607458 (N.D. Ohio 2023).
Thogus involved a contract dispute between a…
Litigation Posture Leaves Important Issues Unresolved In Biologics Case As Some Claims Are Dismissed While Others Survive
Today’s case, Ganz v. Grifols Therapeutics LLC, 2023 WL 5437356 (S.D. Fla. 2023), involves a biologic but also speaks to drugs and medical devices. The mixed decision dismisses design-defect and failure-to warn claims but allows manufacturing-defect and failure-to-recall claims to proceed. Although we’ll briefly summarize those rulings, the decision is more interesting for noting…
A Dismissal Trifecta: Personal Jurisdiction, Preemption, and Twombly Doom Product-Liability Claims in the Northern District of Ohio
Today we report on Farson v. Coopersurgical, Inc., 2023 WL 5002818 (N.D. Ohio 2023), a product-liability decision that dismissed all claims against all defendants based on lack of personal jurisdiction, preemption, and Twombly.
Claiming that she was injured when an implantable medical device migrated in her body, the plaintiff brought suit in Ohio…
This Failure-to-Warn Decision Isn’t Just Cosmetic
We defend drug and device manufacturers. Our cases involve drugs and devices. Not surprisingly, we tend to cite drug and device decisions. But there is no reason to ignore helpful decisions arising in other contexts. The case we report on today—Jimenez v. Holiday CVS, LLC, 2023 WL 4251176 (S.D. Fla. 2023)—is such a…
Federal Court Calls Out—and Enjoins—Anti-Trans Bigotry
The case we discuss today, Doe v. Ladapo, 2023 WL 3833848 (N.D. Fla. 2023), appeared in our daily search results because it briefly addresses off-label use of prescription drugs. Invalidating a state statute that would have prohibited a particular off-label use, the court explained that “[o]ff-label use of drugs is commonplace” and the fact…
Federal Court: No Evidence that Allergan’s Textured Breast Implants Had a Higher Incidence of Cancer Than Other Manufacturers’ Implants
This post is from the non-Reed Smith side of the blog.
We don’t usually report on securities-law cases, but today we do. That is because the well-reasoned decision in question, In re Allergan PLC Securities Litigation, 2022 WL 17584155 (S.D.N.Y. 2022), has major implications for the parallel Textured Breast Implant MDL now pending in…