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
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
There was a time when we posted frequently about attempts to impose liability for injuries allegedly caused by the use of a generic prescription drug. Much of the attention has been directed to trying to pin liability on the company that developed the drug originally, even when the plaintiff took another company’s generic version. When
I can make a hat, a brooch, or a pterodactyl. Of course, that’s a famous line from the movie Airplane! But, it seems to have taken on a new meaning now that we aren’t out and about like we use to be. After work, weekends, before work, lunch hour. All of these used to be
Nope, we didn’t bury the lead. Today we are talking about a generic, negligence per se, warnings case that wasn’t decided on preemption grounds. No Mensing. No Buckman. No preemption of any kind. Normally that would make us a little nervous, but no need. It was the learned intermediary doctrine’s day to be
We are certain that profound revelations – scientific, economic, and political – will arise from the Covid-19 crisis. For now, we comment on bits of knowledge we have gained so far. We have learned, spending 24 hours each day with our dogs, that they bark 20 hours each day. We have learned that the concept
At this point, let’s call it what it is: anti-social distancing. The second word follows much better from that first word. They go together. Always have. It gives you the right mindset too. When you go for a perilous walk around the block, and you see someone doing the same thing, and they start coming
The advent of generic preemption in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, 564 U.S. 604 (2011) (“Mensing”), and Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, 570 U.S. 472 (2013) (“Bartlett”), left plaintiffs who took generic drugs scrambling to invent bizarre, novel, and in some cases dangerous supposed causes of action. Before it went
Like most of you, and like our co-bloggers (from whom you will hear similar laments this week) we are in the midst of “social distancing.” We have locked down our home, begun an indefinite period of working remotely, ordered a case of boxed macaroni and cheese, and fielded emails cancelling an inordinate number of long-awaited
This is a quick-hit post bringing you two first-of-their-kind orders on proving causation in cases alleging inadequate drug or medical device warnings. In orders applying Georgia’s and Delaware’s versions of the learned intermediary doctrine, two different federal courts have held that a plaintiff alleging inadequate warnings cannot meet his or her burden of proving causation