Knee Replacement Products Liability Claim Preempted by FDA Approval; Case Dismissed

Court: Supreme Court, Dutchess County, New York

Case: Mayen v. Tigges, M.D. and DePuy Orthopedic

Date: Aug. 17, 2012

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg

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Facts: Products liability case for injury due to defective knee replacement manufactured by Depuy.
Plaintiff’s knee was replaced by DePuy’s mechanical knee.

Depuy has made a motion to dismiss the complaint based on federal preemption of the claims against it as a medical device manufacturer.

Holding: Since this knee replacement had the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, under the U.S. Supreme Court case of Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 U.S. 312 (2008), Federal law preempts plaintiff’s state law claims. She can’t sue and her claim is dismissed.

Comment: The plaintiff tried to get around this motion by arguing that she need to conduct pre-trial discovery proceedings of the defendant. The Court is not fooled, and points out that she hasn’t said what any such discovery might prove and how anything she might find could beat the Federal preemption of this claim. She can’t.