Monthly Archives: June 2017
Texas Court Slaps Down Plaintiff’s Attempt to Use Negligence Per Se to Circumvent Preemption
Many plaintiff’s lawyers attempt to use the negligence per se doctrine to try to hold companies liable under provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). They claim an alleged violation of a safety-related provision of the FDCA to create a state law civil claim. This tactic runs counter to established state… Read More »
Challenging the Admissibility of Alleged Product Risks a Plaintiff Never Actually Encountered
A common trial strategy used by many plaintiffs is attempting to have an array of product risks admitted into evidence, even if the plaintiff was never actually exposed to those risks. In essence, these plaintiffs are throwing mud against the wall in the hopes that it will stick and thereby increase the likelihood that… Read More »
Wrong Party Defense
In some personal injury or death cases, the facts are so bad that one of the only viable strategies to employ by the defense is to point to the proverbial “empty chair.” This is sometimes referred to as “the wrong party defense.” The strategy is fairly straightforward – agreeing that the plaintiff was harmed,… Read More »
Understanding the Learned Intermediary Doctrine
A number of plaintiff’s lawsuits against drug manufacturers allege that the plaintiff failed to receive an adequate warning about a prescription drug’s side effects. As a result, the plaintiff allegedly suffered harm and seeks monetary damages from the manufacturer claiming a breach of the duty to warn. Defense counsel for the drug manufacturer can,… Read More »