Fiore v. Collagen Corp.

930 P.2d 477, 187 Ariz. 400, 219 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 35, 1996 Ariz. App. LEXIS 132
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJune 25, 1996
Docket1 CA-CV 94-0375
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 930 P.2d 477 (Fiore v. Collagen Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fiore v. Collagen Corp., 930 P.2d 477, 187 Ariz. 400, 219 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 35, 1996 Ariz. App. LEXIS 132 (Ark. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

*401 OPINION

TOCI, Judge.

Plaintiffs Arlene and Richard Fiore (“Fiore”) appeal from the summary judgment granted to Collagen Corporation (“Collagen Corporation”) in Fiore’s products liability action. Fiore sued Collagen Corporation for Arlene’s injuries after she received injections of Zyderm Collagen Implant (“Zyderm”), an anti-wrinkle substance manufactured and sold by Collagen Corporation.

The trial court found that a section of the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 (“MDA”) preempted Fiore’s claims for negligence, strict liability in tort, breach of express and implied warranty, and fraud. It also denied leave to file an amended complaint alleging a violation of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act after the court had granted summary judgment on the original complaint. We conclude that the MDA does not preempt state common law tort claims and thus reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Therefore, we need not resolve whether the trial court erred in denying the motion to file an amended complaint.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Collagen Corporation manufactures and distributes products made from a purified form of bovine collagen. One of these products, Zyderm, is injected under the skin to correct or improve soft tissue deficiencies due to disease, trauma, or age. Zyderm is considered a Class III medical device.

Prior to 1976, the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) lacked authority to examine the safety and effectiveness of any medical device before the maker sold the device to the public unless the FDA could convince a court that the device was a drug. Robert S. Adler & Richard A Mann, Preemption and Medical Devices: The Courts Run Amok, 59 Mo. L.Rev. 895, 910-11 (1994) (“Adler & Mann”). As a consequence of the Daikon Shield litigation, Congress amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 301-93 (1972), to extend the FDA’s jurisdiction to medical devices. Adler & Mann, supra, at 911-12 n. 84; Michael v. Shiley, Inc., 46 F.3d 1316, 1319 (3d Cir.), cert. denied — U.S. —, 116 S.Ct. 67, 133 L.Ed.2d 29 (1995). These amendments, codified at 21 U.S.C. §§ 360c through 3601 (Supp. 1995), are referred to as the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 or “MDA.”

Pursuant to these statutes, the FDA classifies all medical devices. The categories and the corresponding legal consequences of each can be briefly described as follows.

Class I devices, such as tongue depressors, are devices which generally pose little or no threat to public health and are subject only to general controls on manufacturing. See 21 U.S.C. § 360c(a)(l)(A). Class II devices, such as oxygen masks, pose a slightly greater risk of injury to patients, and accordingly, the MDA subjects them to performance standards, post market surveillance, guidelines for use and other appropriate controls. See id. § 360c(a)(l)(B). Class III devices ... include all devices which are to be implanted into people, which are used to sustain life, or which pose a potentially unreasonable risk of injury. See id. § 360c(a)(l)(C).

Michael, 46 F.3d at 1319-20.

Under the MDA,- no company may market or sell a Class III device until it obtains premarket approval from the FDA. 21 U.S.C. § 360e. The sponsoring company must submit “all information, published or known to or which should reasonably be known to the applicant, concerning investigations which have been made to show whether or not such device is safe and effective,” 21 U.S.C. § 360e(c)(l)(A), a description of the product’s ingredients, method of manufacture, and performance standards, as well as any other information requested by the FDA, 21 U.S.C. § 360e(c)(l)(B)-(G). Following review by a panel of medical experts and a favorable recommendation, the FDA may approve the application.

Additionally, the FDA’s regulations permit it to require warnings or instructions on the product’s labels and to regulate the manufacturing processes. 21 C.F.R. § 814.82, 820.100-101. The FDA may require the product’s sponsor to notify the public of a *402 newly-discovered danger, to replace the device, or to refund its purchase price. 21 U.S.C. § 360h. The FDA’s continuing authority also requires manufacturers to report deaths or serious injuries from use of a Class III device. See 21 C.F.R. § 803.24(a)(l)(i). The Act does not, however, authorize the FDA to require companies to compensate victims for either medical expenses or pain and suffering caused by a device failure. See Mears v. Marshall, 137 Or.App. 390, 905 P.2d 1154, 1160 (1995) (no private right of action).

On April 30, 1980, Collagen Corporation filed a premarket approval application for Zyderm. A panel of experts reviewed the application and imposed a number of conditions on Collagen Corporation. 1 In July 1981, the FDA issued an order permitting Collagen Corporation to market Zyderm. In 1991 and 1992, the FDA reviewed the premarket approval application and concluded that its initial approval of the application was appropriate.

In 1986 or 1987, Arlene Fiore received Zyderm injections. She filed this products liability action against Collagen Corporation and her doctor in February 1993, alleging that Collagen Corporation knew or should have known that the human immune system views Zyderm as a foreign protein, and thus Zyderm provokes significant immune and autoimmune reactions. The complaint stated that after the injections, Arlene suffered serious physical and emotional injury and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and other related conditions. The complaint alleged claims against Collagen Corporation (1) for negligence in developing, testing, manufacturing, inspecting, labeling, marketing, promoting, advertising, selling and distributing Zyderm; (2) for strict liability; (3) for breach of express and implied warranties that Zyderm was safe, fit, and proper for cosmetic use; and (4) for negligent or fraudulent representations of Zyderm’s safety and fitness to Fiore, her physicians, the FDA and the general public.

Collagen Corporation successfully moved for summary judgment on the theory that 21 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
930 P.2d 477, 187 Ariz. 400, 219 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 35, 1996 Ariz. App. LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fiore-v-collagen-corp-arizctapp-1996.