Today’s topic is something a little different. We don’t usually think of after market modifications to prescription drugs and medical devices. If this were a blog about cars, computers, or almost anything with a motor or engine that can be enhanced for speed – user modifications would be a central theme. In the drug and
The Pelvic Mesh MDLs are now all but over, with all but a few stragglers either settled or remanded. But the specious logic used in that litigation to overturn decades of precedent that had recognized compliance with FDA regulatory actions as relevant and admissible evidence, is still afoot to haunt medical device manufacturers. As we’ve
There was an awful lot for defense counsel to contend with in Cavanaugh v. Stryker Corp., 2020 WL 5937405 (Fl. Dist. Ct. App., 4th Dist. Oct. 7, 2020). The patient died during surgery when the defendant manufacturer’s suction device damaged his heart. Another patient died under similar circumstances two years earlier. The manufacturer
This blogger took last week off – from everything except some sand, the ocean, and drinks with little umbrellas. And books! Books set in the post-Civil War era (The Book of Lost Friends), in post-World War I (The Last Train to Key West), during World War II (The Only Woman
The order of operations can matter. Back in elementary school, you may have learned a mnemonic about somebody’s aunt to help you remember the right order for doing certain math problems. In computer programming, engineering, auto repair, surgery, and a myriad of other endeavors, you can get very different results if you take the same
We begin with an update on the “visiting dogs’ health crisis.” All medications are finished, special diets are a thing of the past, and (dare we say it out loud) all canine digestive tracts seem peaceful. The chubby Pomeranian was relieved of about four inches of hair today at the hands of a
Long ago, when we first started representing the makers of prescription pharmaceuticals, it was said that people did not tend to sue over life-saving medications. Contraceptives, pain medications, obesity medications, diabetes medications, psychiatric medications, and many others were fair game, even if the risk-benefit calculus for an individual patient might involve major benefits on one
Last weekend, the Drug and Device Law Rock Climber passed through to drop off her two dogs – a four-pound Chihuahua and a chubby Pomeranian, now hirsute, who was nearly bald from a skin infection when he was rescued a year ago. These are very cute dogs who mostly get along with the Drug and
One day last week, we were sitting at our computer watching a torrential rainstorm through the windows of our home office. It occurred to us, based on some recent seepage, that we should check our basement. We opened the door to the most-unwelcome sound of rushing water. Momentarily confused, we identified the source: a new
People have long been fascinated by robots. Way before the term was coined in a 1920 play or Isaac Asimov popularized it, there were stories about machines that acted like living things. The droids of Star Wars universe are famed for the likeability and pluck. However, there is still the specter that some of those