Non-Preempted, Parallel Claim Stated In Suit Over Allegedly Flawed Defibrillator Lead

A Washington state man sufficiently stated a non-preempted, parallel claim under Washington law against St. Jude Medical Inc. in a personal injury suit over allegedly flawed Riata leads on an implantable cardiac defibrillator, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington said Nov. 22 (O’Neil v. St. Jude Med. Inc., W.D. Wash., No. 13-0661).

The court denied St. Jude’s dismissal motion. In rejecting the defendant’s preemption argument, the court applied a recent medical device decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that found no preemption in a suit by plaintiffs alleging a ...