Products Liability « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Tort Claim for Medication Pump Preempted

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 1, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Allyson K. Duncan, Products Liability

The 4th Circuit upholds the district court decision that plaintiff has no common law tort claim against defendant Medtronic, maker of the allegedly defective SynchroMed pump for delivery of medication through a catheter, as her claim is preempted by the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 and regulations which provided for premarket approval by the federal [...]

Car-Seat Discovery Sanction Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 3, 2011
Tags: Judge James P. Jones, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

An Abingdon U.S. District Court upholds the magistrate judge’s discovery sanction that precludes defendant car-seat manufacturer from offering evidence as to why it chose not to add foam to the head-area side wings of the child car seat that is the alleged defective product in this personal injury case.
After review of the magistrate judge’s memorandum [...]

Two-Year Limitations Bars Hip Replacement Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 28, 2011
Tags: Judge Anthony J. Trenga, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses a removed diversity action against hip replacement manufacturers as barred by Virginia’s two-year statute of limitations; equitable estoppel does not apply because patient waited more than two years after a product recall.
In September 2005, patient had a total right hip replacement surgery. An orthopedic implant manufactured [...]

No Spoliation Dismissal for Destroyed Van

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 27, 2011
Tags: Judge James P. Jones, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this product liability suit alleging a defective car seat manufactured by defendant gave rise to a five-year-old child’s brain injury from an auto accident, the Abingdon U.S. District Court denies the manufacturer’s request to dismiss the suit due to spoliation of evidence because the vehicle in which the child was a passenger was allowed [...]

No Chinese Drywall Claims Against Agent, Supplier

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 21, 2011
Tags: Judge Rodham T. Delk Jr., Products Liability, Suffolk Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

Plaintiffs alleging injuries from defective Chinese drywall used in their home built in 2007 have not stated claims for breach of contract, negligence or violations of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act against the realty company that listed the house or the supply company that sold some of the drywall used in the home; the Suffolk [...]

Experts Can Show Infant Earning Capacity

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 20, 2011
Tags: Judge James P. Jones, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In a products liability suit against a child-safety seat manufacturer, a vocational rehabilitation expert and an economist can use academic and medical reports and family history to testify as to the individualized earning capacity of a five-year-old girl who occupied the safety seat and who suffered brain injury in an auto accident.
During his assessment, vocational [...]

Stone in bowl of soup caused two cracked – $50,000 Settlement

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: October 3, 2011
Tags: Personal Injury, Products Liability

The plaintiff, the wife of a dentist, was having lunch with her book club in a Richmond-area restaurant. She bit down on a mouthful of soup and cracked two teeth on a small stone in the soup. Plaintiff contended that Virginia’s implied warranty of food purity imposed strict liability when a restaurant serves food with [...]

No Virginia Jurisdiction Over Japanese Company

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 27, 2011
Tags: Judge Charles N. Dorsey, Products Liability, Roanoke Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

A woman who alleges she was injured while operating a saddle stitching machine that a Roanoke company obtained from a Japanese manufacturer through its North American distributor cannot sue the Japanese company in Roanoke City Circuit Court; the manufacturer had no physical locations in the U.S., did not specifically target Virginia, attended no trade shows [...]

Fitness Warranty Claim for Shower Chair User

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 28, 2011
Tags: Judge Raymond A. Jackson, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A man who is disabled from multiple sclerosis and who alleges injuries from use of defendant’s folding shower chair has stated a claim for breach of an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose under Va. Code § 8.2-315, says a Newport News U.S. District Court.
This products liability action arises out of plaintiff’s use [...]

Asbestos Claim Against Shipyard Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 15, 2011
Tags: Judge Timothy S. Fisher, Newport News Circuit Court, Products Liability, Virginia Circuit Courts

In this suit by the estate of a man who allegedly died from mesothelioma contracted from asbestos exposure after he worked on construction of the U.S. Navy submarine Lewis & Clark in 1965, a Newport News Circuit Court dismisses plaintiff’s claim against defendant shipyard.
I am unaware of this issue being raised in the asbestos litigation [...]

Virginia Lawyers Weekly