The preemption doctrine could save Medtronic from the raft of lawsuits it’s facing over alleged off-label promotion of its InFuse bone putty.
Medtronic could avoid a major headache if the courts continue to allow the doctrine of preemption in product liability lawsuits filed over its InFuse bone-growth protein, according to Fish & Richardson principal José Sierra.
The InFuse bone growth protein has been on the U.S. market since 2002, when the FDA approved the product for anterior use in the lower spine. Lawsuits have accused Medtronic of illegally marketing the device for use in the neck and in posterior lumbar procedures.
But those suits face an uphill battle if recent cases are anything to go by, Sierra wrote in Lexology.