White v. Wyeth Labs.

White v. Wyeth Labs.

Opinion

 [**751]   I

We first consider appellants' contention that federal law does not preempt state law concerning the liability of vaccine manufacturers for deaths or injuries caused by their products.

] Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, state laws that interfere with or are contrary to federal laws on a given subject are a nullity. E.g., Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 1, 210-211. Although this court would not ordinarily reach this constitutional question unless there were a need to do so, we find this question has been well-settled.  Congress itself has clearly expressed its intention not to preempt liability claims against vaccine manufacturers under state law, by stating in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act that "* * * State law shall apply to a civil action brought for damages for a vaccine-related injury or death." Section 300aa-22(a), Title 42, U.S. Code. Furthermore, all federal courts that have addressed the issue have concluded that there is no federal preemption of state tort or contract remedies against vaccine manufacturers. [***9]  See, e.g., Abbot v. American Cyanamid Co. (C.A. 4, 1988), 844 F.2d 1108, 1113-1114, certiorari denied (1988), 488 U.S.    , 102 L. Ed. 2d 248, 109 S. Ct. 260. ³ Accordingly, Wyeth's liability for Tyler's injuries may be determined under Ohio law.

  [*394]  In Temple v. Wean United, Inc. (1977), 50 Ohio St. 2d 317, 4 O.O. 3d 466, 364 N.E. 2d 267, this court approved and adopted Section 402A of 2 Restatement of the Law 2d, Torts (1965) 347-348, as the law of Ohio with respect to strict products liability. That section provides:

"(] 1) One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, if

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