Supreme Court Rejects Preemption: Does It Matter for Drug and Device Cases?

Litigation attorney Eric Alexander published a blog for Drug & Device Law examining the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hencely v. Fluor Corp., which reversed lower court rulings that state law negligence claims against a military contractor were preempted. The high court analyzed constitutional preemption in a case involving military operations at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, including so-called battlefield preemption and departure from the more familiar express, implied and conflict preemption frameworks often seen in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation. In his post, Mr. Alexander considers what the ruling may mean for future preemption arguments in drug and device cases, where federal regulatory authority and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight are frequently central.

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