Mentor Breast Implant Suits Improperly Tossed, SCOTUS Told

Two women alleging Mentor Worldwide LLC breast implants caused a slew of health problems told the U.S. Supreme Court their suits against the Johnson & Johnson unit were improperly thrown out.

Amber Brooks and Jamie Gale raised claims based on manufacturing defects, failure to warn about health risks, and failure to properly conduct post-approval patient studies and report problems after the MemoryGel implants were cleared for sale in 2006.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said federal medical device law preempts warning and reporting-related claims, and said the manufacturing-related claims weren’t adequately pleaded.

But the court misapplied ...