Hawkins v. Medtronic, Inc.

909 F. Supp. 2d 901, 2012 WL 4364171, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135970
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 24, 2012
DocketCase No. 2:11-cv-1037
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 909 F. Supp. 2d 901 (Hawkins v. Medtronic, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hawkins v. Medtronic, Inc., 909 F. Supp. 2d 901, 2012 WL 4364171, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135970 (S.D. Ohio 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

PETER C. ECONOMUS, District Judge.

Plaintiff Christopher Hawkins filed this action claiming that he was injured by a medical device made by Defendant Medtronic, Inc. In his Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that the device, a Medtronic Implantable Pulse Generator, Model # 7425 (hereinafter “IPG”), was defective and had to be replaced due to Defendant’s failure to satisfy its obligations under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by the Medical Device Amendments of 1976, 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq. (Am. Compl. ¶ 39.) Plaintiff filed this action asserting various causes of action under Ohio law. This matter is before the Court for consideration of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. (Dkt. 16.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court hereby GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendant’s Motion.

I. Background

Plaintiff asserts the following facts. On October 15, 2009, the IPG was surgically implanted into Plaintiffs back. The IPG is designed to send electrical pulses to the spinal cord in order to interfere with the transmission of pain signals and replace them with a tingling sensation called parasthesia. (Am. Compl. ¶ 9.) For a few months, the IPG worked as expected. (Id. at ¶ 12.) However, in late December 2009 or early January 2010, Plaintiff began experiencing painful shocks at the implant site, even when he occasionally turned off the device in an attempt to alleviate the shocks. (Id. at ¶¶ 13-14.) On numerous occasions, Plaintiffs’ doctors, with the assistance of a Medtronic agent, unsuccessfully attempted to fix the IPG. (Id. at ¶¶ 15-16.) On March 22, 2010, Plaintiffs doctor, after consulting with a Medtronic agent, determined that the IPG needed to be replaced. (Id. at ¶ 17.) On March 31, 2010, the IPG was excised and replaced by a new model. (Id. at ¶ 18.)

II. Preemption Under The Medical Device Amendments

Congress enacted the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 (“MDA”) “to provide for the safety and effectiveness of medical devices intended for human use.” Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr, 518 U.S. 470, 474, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996) (quoting 90 Stat. 539). The MDA “classifies medical devices in three categories based on the risk that they pose to the public.” Id. at 477, 116 S.Ct. 2240. Class I devices present no unreasonable risk of illness or injury and are subject to minimal regulation. Id. at 477-78, 116 S.Ct. 2240 (citing 21 U.S.C. § 360c(a)(l)(A)). Class II devices are potentially more harmful and must comply with increased regulation but may be marketed without advance approv[904]*904al. Id. at 478, 116 S.Ct. 2240 (citing 21 U.S.C. § 360c(a)(l)(B)). Class III devices either “present[ ] a potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury” or are “purported or represented to be for a use in supporting or sustaining human life or for a use which is of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health.” Id. at 478, 116 S.Ct. 2240 (citing § 360e(a)(l)(C)). Before a manufacturer may introduce a new Class III device to the market, the manufacturer must provide the FDA with a “reasonable assurance” that the device is safe and effective through a rigorous process known as “premarket approval” or “PMA.” Id. at 478, 116 S.Ct. 2240 (citing 21 U.S.C. § 360e(d)(2)).

At issue in this ease is the preemption provision of the MDA, contained in 21 U.S.C. § 360k(a), which provides generally 1 that:

... no State ... may establish or continue in effect with respect to a device intended for human use any requirement—
(1) which is different from, or in addition to, any requirement applicable under this Act to the device, and
(2) which relates to the safety or effectiveness of the device or to any other matter included in a requirement applicable to the device under this Act.

The Supreme Court has held that this provision “simply was not intended to preempt most, let alone all, general common-law duties enforced by damages actions.” Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr, 518 U.S. 470, 491, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996).2 Rather,

[sjtate requirements are pre-empted under the MDA only to the extent that they are “different from, or in addition to” the requirements imposed by federal law. Thus, § 360k does not prevent a State from providing a damages remedy for claims premised on a violation of FDA regulations; the state duties in such a case “parallel,” rather than add to, federal requirements.

Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 U.S. 312, 330, 128 S.Ct. 999, 169 L.Ed.2d 892 (2008) (citing § 360k(a)(l); Lohr, 518 U.S. at 495, 116 S.Ct. 2240). In fact, the Supreme Court has noted that “[t]he presence of a damages remedy does not amount to [an] additional or different ‘requirement’ ...; rather, it merely provides another reason for manufacturers to comply with identical existing ‘requirements’ under federal law.” Lohr, 518 U.S. at 495, 116 S.Ct. 2240.

To determine whether a state requirement is pre-empted, the Court first “must determine whether the Federal Government has established requirements applicable to” the device in question. Riegel, 552 U.S. 312, 321, 128 S.Ct. 999, 169 L.Ed.2d 892 (2008) (quoting § 360k(a)). The Supreme Court has interpreted § 360k(a) “in a manner ‘substantially informed’ by the FDA regulation set forth at 21 C.F.R. § 808.1(d),” which regulation states that “state requirements are preempted ‘only when the Food and Drug [905]*905Administration has established specific counterpart regulations or there are other specific requirements applicable to a particular device.” Riegel, 552 U.S. at 322, 128 S.Ct. 999 (citing Lohr, 518 U.S. at 495, 500-01, 116 S.Ct. 2240); 21 C.F.R. § 808.1(d).

Defendant correctly points out that “[cjlaims involving a PMA-approved device automatically satisfy [this] first condition of the preemption test.” (Dkt. 16-1 at 4.) In Riegel, the Supreme Court held that PMA “imposes ‘requirements’ under the MDA as [that Court] interpreted it in LoW’ because, “[u]nlike general labeling duties, [PMA] is specific to individual devices.” Riegel, 552 U.S. at 322-23, 128 S.Ct. 999.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
909 F. Supp. 2d 901, 2012 WL 4364171, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135970, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hawkins-v-medtronic-inc-ohsd-2012.