Last year we reported on Plourde v. Sorin Group USA, Inc., 2021 WL 736153 (D. Mass. 2021), which held that the plaintiff’s failure-to-warn claims were expressly preempted by 21 U.S.C. § 360k(a) because those claims were based on an alleged failure to report adverse events to the FDA and the plaintiff had not shown
Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Registering to Do Business Does Not Constitute Consent to General Personal Jurisdiction
In law as in real estate, “location, location, location.” Where a case is filed is often outcome-determinative. Jury pools and jurisprudence vary from one jurisdiction to the next. In some states, any complaint written on paper is sufficient; in others, a plaintiff must actually plead facts to avoid dismissal. Similarly, juries in some places routinely
MDL Court: Pre-Approval Design-Defect Claim Not Preempted
In a ruling that is contrary to Supreme Court precedent, the district court presiding over the Zostavax MDL recently held that federal law does not preempt a state-law design-defect claim based on the manufacturer’s failure to seek FDA approval of a different, purportedly safer vaccine.
Zostavax, a shingles vaccine, received FDA approval in 2006. The
Hospital Cannot Be Forced To Grant Privileges To Doctor Who Would Administer Ivermectin
Four times in the past several months (here, here, here, and here), we have reported on cases in which plaintiffs have sought injunctions that would compel hospitals to administer the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to COVID-19 patients. Today we report on another such case, Texas Health Huguley, Inc. v. Jones,
Generally Applicable Implied-Preemption Principle Illustrated By Off-Label Generic Drug Case
Federal law regulates medical devices differently from pharmaceuticals, and branded drugs differently from generic drugs. Whether a particular state-law tort claim is preempted often depends on whether the claim involves a medical device, a branded drug, or a generic drug. Often but not always. As today’s case illustrates, there is one implied-preemption principle that applies
Court Severs Product-Liability Claims Brought By Different Plaintiffs Involving Different Devices Implanted At Different Times By Different Doctors
Plaintiffs like to file complaints that join multiple plaintiffs in a single action. They think that doing so gives them added leverage in settlement discussions. They think that because they know that if they get to a jury, a jury is—no matter the evidence—more likely to find in favor of the plaintiffs and against the
“Pink Tax” Claim Hits Red Light
A short and sweet report today on Lowe v. Walgreens Boots All., Inc., 2021 WL 4772293 (N.D. Cal. 2021), a recent decision dismissing a putative class action that sought to assert a variety of California state-law claims against the sellers of a generic drug based on the drug’s labeling. The court dismissed three of
Patient Has No Right to Receive, and Hospital Has No Duty to Administer, A Drug that Is Not the Standard of Care
For the second time in three weeks a court has denied an injunction that would have compelled a hospital to administer ivermectin to a patient seriously ill with COVID-19. We previously reported on the first of those decisions, Smith v. West Chester Hosp., LLC, 2021 WL 4129083 (Ohio Com. Pl. 2021). Today we report
Federal Court: Anti-Vaxxers Do Not Have a Constitutional or Statutory Right to Endanger Everyone Else
Today we discuss a putative class action in which the named plaintiffs are a registered nurse who refuses to take a basic precaution to protect her vulnerable patients and a mother who is more interested in displaying her livestock than protecting her neighbors. Brought on behalf of all New Mexico residents who are equally selfish,
Ivermectin and COVID-19: Seriously, y’all. Stop it.
On Monday, Bexis, laboring on Labor Day, blogged about a kooky Ohio decision ordering the off-label administration of an animal drug, ivermectin, to a seriously ill COVID-19 patient over the objections of that patient’s treating physicians and of the hospital in which the patient was being treated. The decision was kooky both medically and legally.