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by David A. Haworth, Carl G. Roberts, and Neal Walters In a case of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of design defect claims against a residential homebuilder under New Jersey’s Product...

Subrogation is an important tool available to insurers who pay for destruction of property caused by a tortfeasor. By suing the responsible parties the insurer reduces the loss paid and aids insurers in making profit. The terrorist attack of September...

On February 22, 2011, the United States Supreme Court held that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (NCIVIA or Act) bars state-law design-defect claims against vaccine manufacturers. The Bruesewitz family sued Wyeth, then the parent company...

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - (Mealey's) Wyeth is not liable for the breast cancer death of a woman who took the company's hormone therapy drugs Premarin and Prempro, a Connecticut federal jury said May 30, finding that the drugs' labeling contained...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - (Mealey's) The Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA) preempts state law design defect and failure-to-warn claims involving exposure to asbestos during repairs and maintenance, a divided U.S. Supreme Court held Feb. 29 ( Gloria Gail Kurns...

SAN FRANCISCO - (Mealey's) The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 25 said design defect and failure-to-warn claims filed by the parents of a child who died after getting vaccinated are preempted by the federal vaccine law, but noted that...

CINCINNATI - (Mealey's) Citing the Supreme Court's rejection of implied preemption of pharmaceutical product liability in Wyeth v. Diana Levine (No. 06-1249, U.S. Sup.; 2009 U.S. LEXIS 1774), the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 18...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - (Mealey's) In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 ruled that state law design defect claims that turn on the adequacy of a drug's warning are preempted by federal law ( Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. v. Karen...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - (Mealey's) Several U.S. Supreme Court justices on March 19 questioned whether New Hampshire law allows a design defect claim against a generic drug manufacturer that escapes preemption under the high court's two drug preemption...

LOS ANGELES -- A California Superior Court jury on Feb. 10 returned a verdict for the defense in a suit alleging that exposure to solvents including benzene caused a Los Angeles-area worker's death of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), saying that...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - (Mealey's) The U.S. solicitor general will be allowed to argue March 19 that design defect claims involving generic drugs are preempted by federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court decided March 4 in granting the federal government's...

BOSTON - (Mealey's) A panel of the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 2 affirmed a $21 million generic drug injury verdict, finding that a 2011 Supreme Court ruling about generic drug injury claims does not preempt design defect claims ( Karen...

HARRISBURG, Pa. - (Mealey's) The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Jan. 11 partly reversed preemption summary judgment in a thimerosal vaccine injury case, saying the trial court needs to conduct a case-by-case inquiry of the side effects of the vaccines...

By James C. Moore In Sclafani v. Brother Jimmy's BBQ, Inc., et al. , the New York Supreme Court addressed two fundamental questions: (i) is Bacardi 151 Rum defectively designed because it is highly flammable and (ii) is the removal of the safety...

By William A. Ruskin In the majority of jurisdictions, to establish a claim for design defect in a product liability action, the plaintiff must present some proof of a "feasible alternative design" or "reasonable alternative design."...