Blanco v. Baxter Healthcare Corp.: Court Upholds Medical Device Preemption Clause
A California Appellate Court supported a trial court's ruling that the Medical Device Amendments (MDA), Title 21 USC §360k(a), preempts any state law imposing safety requirements on manufacturers of a medical device. So even though the medical device did not pass all of the state's safety requirements, in Blanco v. Baxter Healthcare Corp. the plaintiff's claim was denied because the medical device in question met all the FDA requirements. As we see again and again, the MDA's preemption claim is making it increasingly difficult to seek legal recourse for a faulty medical device. Of course, this would hold true for our cases in Chicago and around Illinois.
Claudia Blanco was diagnosed with mitral valve stenosis and needed to have her natural valve replaced with an artificial one. During surgery a bileaflet mitral heart valve manufactured by Baxter-Travenol Laboratories was inserted. A year after Blanco received the valve Baxter suspended marketing of its product due to reports of possible valve failures. However, Blanco didn't receive any notice of the valve problems for another five years. And while the notice advised her of the potential problems it did not advise her to have the valve removed or replaced. Less than ten years later Blanco's artificial valve failed and she was rushed to the hospital for an emergency valve replacement, but died. After her death a representative from Baxter evaluated her valve and determined that the failure was in fact caused by a faulty valve.
But despite the evidence that the product was faulty Blanco's claim was denied by both the trial and appellate courts. Because the medical device had passed a "rigorous" approval by the FDA it was protected from litigation for product liability. Also, because the device's warnings were also approved by the FDA a claim cannot be brought for failure to warn.
The baby's mother brought suit against University of Chicago Hospital alleging that defendant doctors failed to relieve the trauma caused by his umbilical cord during his birth in October 1988. There were also allegations that the doctors didn't timely treat the baby's seizures after his birth. 
An Illinois trial court granted the school district's motion for summary judgment stating that all the counts against the district were reliant on the district's classification as a "common carrier," but that the district was not a common carrier. An Illinois Appellate Court agreed that the district was not a common carrier, but that it was still liable for the bus driver's misconduct. 
Michael Hadrys, an Adjustable Forms employee, was injured while working on a construction project in Illinois called the River East Project. And as is typical in the construction industry, his insurance was an owner controlled insurance program (OCIP) meaning that it was covered through the owner of the job and not his direct employer. The OCIP was being covered by Reliance Insurance Co., who have since folded, and that's when things get complicated.
The legal advice comes from top doctors and editors of the New England Journal of Medicine who have submitted a friend-of-the-court brief. The doctors state that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “is in no position” to guarantee drug safety. The doctors went on to to say that lawsuits can serve as “a vital deterrent” and protect consumers if drug companies don’t disclose risks. 
State Farm insured the vehicle that was damaged and filed suit against Pat Santucci for property damage only. Santucci was part owner of P.S. Coyote, a corporation that operated out of Santucci's Illinois property, where he also individually owned the horses, outbuildings and barn involved in the accident. Statewide covered P.S. Coyote and Santucci under a commercial general liability policy.
Brzinski arrived at work in Orland Park, Illinois, to investigate an accident. He was walking along the service road that ran parallel to the railroad tracks for the purpose of taking photographs. While he was walking, the ground gave way and Mr. Brzinski stepped into an 18-inch sinkhole with his left foot and injured himself. 
Because of Illinois worker's compensation law you are limited to recover against your employer in the Illinois Industrial Commission and cannot bring a separate civil lawsuit directly against your employer. But if your injury at work involved a machine or product then you may be able to recover damages from the manufacturer in a product liability claim brought as a separate civil suit.
Stryker Corp. moved to dismiss the complaint filed by Lenore because the 2-year statute of limitations had run when the case was filed in Chicago in 2005. In Illinois, typically the statute of limitations begins running from the date that the claimant should have known that there was a problem. The Chicago district court found that in 2002 Lenore was aware that her hip problems were caused by a manufacturer's defect. 
Photographs can be a very persuasive way to drive a point home to the jury at trial. For example, if you want to demonstrate the horrific nature of a car crash then nothing gets this across better than photographs of the totalled car. Or if you're arguing that doctors at a local Chicago hospital dropped the ball and didn't prevent or treat your client's bed sores, then pictures of the exact size and nature of those sores will underscore how impossible they were to miss. 
