Duvall v. Bristol-Myers-Squibb Co.

65 F.3d 392, 1995 WL 562293
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 25, 1995
DocketNo. 94-1520
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 65 F.3d 392 (Duvall v. Bristol-Myers-Squibb Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Duvall v. Bristol-Myers-Squibb Co., 65 F.3d 392, 1995 WL 562293 (4th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

Affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part by published opinion. Judge WILKINS wrote the opinion, in which Judge WIDENER and Judge MICHAEL joined.

OPINION

WILKINS, Circuit Judge:

Eugene Duvall appeals a decision of the district court granting summary judgment to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (Bristol-Myers) 1 on the basis that Duvall’s claims are preempted by 21 U.S.C.A. § 360k (West Supp.1995), enacted as a part of the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 (MDA) to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.2 We affirm the district court with respect to the majority of Duvall’s claims. However, because we conclude that § 360k does not preempt Duvall’s express warranty claim to the extent that it may be based on Bristol-Myers’ voluntarily-made representations regarding its product, we reverse in part and remand for further proceedings.

I.

In 1990, Duvall underwent surgery to implant a penile prosthesis as treatment for erectile impotence. The prosthesis, a “Surgi-tek Uni-Flate 1000,” was manufactured and marketed by Bristol-Myers. The device ultimately failed and was explanted two years later. Duvall filed suit against Bristol-Myers in state court, claiming breach of express warranty; breach of implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose; strict liability for defective design, defective manufacture, and failure to warn; and negligence in design, manufacture, marketing, testing, promotion, and sale. Bristol-Myers removed the action to federal court on the basis of diversity of citizenship.

The district court, noting its recent decision in Griffin v. Medtronic, Inc., 840 F.Supp. 396 (D.Md.1994) (holding that the MDA preempted state-law claims involving a medical device marketed after premarket approval), appeal docketed, No. 94-1219 (4th Cir. Feb. 23, 1994), granted Bristol-Myers’ motion for summary judgment, ruling that all of Duvall’s state-law claims were preempted by § 360k of the MDA. The material facts are not in dispute, and the issues before us are questions of law subject to de novo review. Higgins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 863 F.2d 1162, 1166-67 (4th Cir.1988).

II.

Congress established a scheme for comprehensive regulation of medical devices in the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Mendes v. Medtronic, Inc., 18 F.3d 13, 14 (1st Cir.1994). The MDA authorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to classify medical devices intended for human use into three categories “based on the degree of regulation necessary to assure safety and effectiveness.” Id.; see 21 U.S.C.A. § 360c (West Supp.1995). Class I devices, such as tongue depressors, which do not present an unreasonable risk of illness or [396]*396injury, are subject only to general controls. 21 U.S.C.A. § 360e(a)(l)(A); 21 C.F.R. § 880.6230 (1994). Class II devices, such as bone-conduction hearing aids, for which “general controls by themselves are insufficient to provide reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of the device,” are subject to special controls. 21 U.S.C.A. § 360c(a)(l)(B); 21 C.F.R. § 874.3300 (1994). Class III devices are those devices: (1) for which there is insufficient information to determine that the controls applicable to Class I and II devices are alone enough to provide reasonable assurance of the safety and effectiveness of the device; and (2)(a) that are to be used for “supporting or sustaining human life” or that are “of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health” or (2)(b) that “present[ ] a potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury.” 21 U.S.C.A. § 360c(a)(l)(C). This class of devices is subject to the most stringent MDA controls. See King v. Collagen Corp., 983 F.2d 1130, 1131 (1st Cir.) (Torraella, J.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 84, 126 L.Ed.2d 52 (1993). Class III devices include implantable pacemakers and replacement heart valves. 21 C.F.R. §§ 870.3610, 870.3925 (1994). Penile inflatable implants are classified as Class III medical devices. 21 C.F.R. § 876.3350 (1994).

In order to market a Class III device, a manufacturer generally must obtain premarket approval from the FDA. Premarket approval requires submission of a detailed application, including clinical data, manufacturing processes, and proposed labeling, see 21 U.S.C.A. § 360e(c) (West Supp.1995), and is intended “to provide reasonable assurance of [the] safety and effectiveness” of the device, 21 U.S.C.A. § 360c(a)(l)(C). In the case of a Class III device for which the FDA does not yet require premarket approval, the manufacturer may market the item after showing that it is “substantially equivalent” to a device marketed before the effective date of the MDA. See 21 C.F.R. § 807.100(a) (1994); Mendes, 18 F.3d at 14-15. To do so, 90 days before marketing a device a manufacturer must submit a premarket notification, known as a 510(k) Notification, including specified information; the FDA must then clear the device for marketing. 21 U.S.C.A. § 360(k) (West Supp.1995); 21 C.F.R. §§ 807.87, 807.90, 807.100 (1994).

Bristol-Myers’ prosthesis reached the market through the substantial equivalence process. Upon completion of clinical trials of the device under an investigational device exemption (IDE), see 21 U.S.C.A. § 360j(g) (West Supp.1995), Bristol-Myers submitted a 510(k) Notification that included information relating to the design and engineering of the device, clinical studies under the IDE, the similarity of the device to other penile prostheses marketed before passage of the MDA, and proposed packaging, labeling, and use instructions. At the FDA’s request, Bristol-Myers supplied additional information on sterilization techniques, testing protocols, design of specific components of the device, package inserts, indicated uses, and fluid requirements. The FDA later cleared the device for marketing.

III.

Duvall argues that his state-law claims are not preempted by § 360k for two reasons. He first maintains that § 360k preempts only state-imposed requirements with respect to medical devices that are different from or additional to those of the MDA and that because common-law claims do not impose requirements, they are not preempted. Although we agree with Duvall that § 360k preempts only state-imposed requirements, we cannot agree that common-law claims are not requirements within the meaning of § 360k. Second, Duvall contends that even if § 360k preempts state requirements imposed by judicial decision, any requirements applicable to Bristol-Myers’ prosthesis under the MDA do not give rise to preemption.

A.

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Bluebook (online)
65 F.3d 392, 1995 WL 562293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duvall-v-bristol-myers-squibb-co-ca4-1995.