Design Defect Claims Preempted in GLP-1 MDL

Litigation attorney Eric Alexander published a blog for Drug & Device Law analyzing the multidistrict litigation (MDL) decision in In re GLP-1 RAs Products Liability Litigation (E.D. Pa. Aug. 15, 2025), which held that design defect claims against branded prescription drugs are preempted. He walks through Bartlett, Mensing, Buckman and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit's Yates decision to explain why plaintiffs' proposed "exceptions" (including a so‑called parallel misbranding theory, marketing-based theories and safer alternative design arguments) do not avoid impossibility preemption. Additionally, he highlights the practical MDL pleading dynamics that often sidestep state-by-state analyses.

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