A selection of our recent work includes representing:
- Several clients in cases litigating the express preemption provision of the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. We also participated as amicus curiae in the United States Supreme Court case recognizing express preemption for premarket approved devices.
- A client in litigation involving a Class III medical device approved for contraception. More than 2,000 plaintiffs have filed suit in state and federal courts, seeking damages for alleged injuries caused by the device. Courts in 23 cases have dismissed or significantly narrowed the claims at issue on the basis of federal preemption and other grounds. In addition, we have successfully removed two of the cases to the district court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction.
- A medical device company in products liability litigation arising out of widely publicized infections following procedures with a 510(k) cleared endoscopic device. We achieved efficient resolution of seven products liability cases pending in state court.
- A medical device manufacturer and its subsidiary in the defense of products liability and other challenges facing the company’s ICD Leads, which were the subject of a Class I recall in 2011. The court granted summary judgment to our client in large part on the basis of federal preemption. Approximately 950 cases and claims were resolved, leaving only a handful of pending cases.
- A medical device company in multidistrict litigation involving a hip resurfacing prosthesis. In 2017, a group of plaintiffs petitioned the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) for centralization of cases involving the device. We led the briefing and argument before the JPML, which ultimately excluded products other than the device from the multidistrict litigation (MDL). The firm will continue to work with other defense counsel in the lead of our client’s defense in the MDL.