Most Claims Survive Preemption In Generic Metoclopramide Litigation

Design defect, warranty, failure-to-update, and other claims asserted against generic metoclopramide makers survive preemption, a divided Pennsylvania Superior Court said July 29 in mass tort litigation over the reflux drug metoclopramide (Hassett v. Dafoe, Pa. Super. Ct., No. 81 EDA 2012).

Only failure-to-warn claims arising before the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, based solely on a label that conformed to the one approved for the branded drug, Reglan, are preempted under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Pliva Inc. v. Mensing, 131 S. Ct. 2567 (2011), the majority said.

The remaining claims either do not ...