A plaintiff lawyer recently filed a case against our client in North Carolina. He has made a settlement demand that any rational observer would regard as ambitious to the point of outrageous. Despite that crazy number, we are on fairly friendly terms with the plaintiff lawyer. We jawbone at each other in a generally good
We have made no secret of our long-held views that “failure to withdraw” or “stop selling” theories of liability for FDA-authorized medical products are unwarranted perversions of state design defect law and preempted anyway. When we say long-held, we mean it, because we had a few of the first cases where this theory was put
Last year we wrote a post about Froman v. Coopersurgical, Inc., 2022 US Dist LEXIS 120725, *2-3 (N.D.AL Jul. 8, 2022), calling it trifecta Tuesday because the case was dismissed on the grounds of personal jurisdiction, pleadings deficiencies, and preemption. Today’s case involves the same product, the same defendants, and the same conclusions on
Today is sort of a twofer Tuesday. We have two cases, but only one issue. So, maybe it’s more of a two-for-one deal. There is also one general takeaway – it pays to look at state-specific defenses to state-specific claims. For example, the privity requirements in North Carolina make it extremely difficult to bring a
It is beach weather, but which beach? The Jersey shore is close, has fun boardwalks and rides, and offers the comfort of the familiar. Then again, you must pay to get on sand covered with New Yorkers. The Outer Banks are lovely, with dunes, wild horses along the surf, splendid lighthouses, and the spot where
Here are some things you probably will not hear very often, if at all: 1) a fervent supporter of a defeated political candidate agreeing that the winning elected official has done a good job, regardless of economic growth, infrastructure projects, public health progress, or some other measure of good government; 2) a fervent supporter of
We have promised ourselves that we will stream this week’s “This Is Us” episode when we finish this blog post. We love this series beyond reason, and we dread its imminent demise, notwithstanding the title’s grammatical transgression. (We generally condition any sort of allegiance on correct use of predicate nominatives.) We are struck, over and
We’re not surprised by the preemption ruling in In re Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, 2021 U.S. Dist. Lexis 100041 (D. Md. May 17, 2021), but that doesn’t makes us any less appalled.
First, here’s what happened.
This latest Birmingham Hip ruling was in preparation for
Now comes the pathos of social distance. As with many of you, we are working remotely. The pantry shelves are groaning under the weight of so many soup cans. Our only reliable encounter with other humans is with the UPS delivery driver, through a door-glass darkly.
Per our Spring Break plans, right now we should
We take every chance we can get to drive nails into the coffin of the Ninth Circuit’s spectacularly wrong opinion in Stengel v. Medtronic. That’s the case where the court held that federal law did not preempt negligence claims alleging that the defendant medical device manufacturer failed adequately to report adverse events to the