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Eleventh Circuit Rules Florida Strict Liability and Negligence Claims Not Preempted by the MDA

2/12/18

By: Robyn Flegal
A panel of the Eleventh Circuit determined in a February 8, 2018 published decision that a Florida district court erred when it ruled that a husband’s claims, brought against a medical device manufacturer after its Life Vest defibrillator failed to shock his wife’s heart, were preempted by federal law.
A defibrillator is worn by patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. It delivers a dose of electric current to the heart, depolarizing the heart muscle and ending dysrhythmia. The lower court dismissed the action in January 2017, ruling that the claims against the manufacturer were preempted by the Medical Device Amendment of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The FDA previously determined the Life Vest device was safe, and the district court agreed with the manufacturer that the allegations improperly contradicted the FDA’s prior approval of the product.
The Eleventh Circuit disagreed with the lower court’s ruling, deciding that the claims were not preempted. The court reasoned that the strict liability and negligence claims were not preempted by the federal regulations because the plaintiff alleged the defect was due to the manufacturer’s purported failure to comply with these regulations—which then caused a violation of Florida’s laws. The Court considered that a 2014 FDA warning letter put the manufacturer on notice that it was in violation of certain regulations. That letter can, now, serve as a basis for the plaintiff’s claims—even though the letter referred to shocks being delivered to patients who did not need them, as opposed to the failure to deliver shock to patients who needed them (as allegedly experienced by the plaintiff’s wife). The Court determined that the complaint’s references to the letter sufficiently stated a claim that was plausible on its face despite this disconnect between the warning letter and facts relating to the plaintiff’s wife’s use of the product.
Medical device manufacturers should be aware of the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling that claims of strict liability and negligence may not be preempted by the Medical Device Amendment. Such manufacturers should be particularly cognizant of this Eleventh Circuit decision where they have received an FDA warning letter.
For more information, please contact Robyn Flegal at rflegal@fmglaw.com.