On November 21, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Registration Task Force released its recommendations on registration requirements for small UAS, or “drones”, operated in the United States (including those used for commercial purposes, and all model aircraft). Background Federal law (49 U.S.C. §4401(a)) requires that a person may only operate an […]
Snell & Wilmer’s Product Liability Litigation Group achieved high rankings in “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers®. We were ranked as a metropolitan area Tier 1 firm in Phoenix, Colorado and Utah for product liability litigation defense. We were also ranked as a Tier 1 firm in Phoenix for mass […]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning companies and the public to be aware of vulnerabilities that cybercriminals could exploit in connected devices, otherwise known as Internet of Things devices. We previously reported on what the Internet of Things is and some of its legal challenges. The Internet of Things is the universe of smart […]
The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of the Court of Appeals’ January 2015 decision regarding the longstanding “learned intermediary” doctrine. In January, the lower court held that the doctrine was inconsistent with Arizona’s system of pure comparative fault. Under the widely adopted learned intermediary doctrine, a drug manufacturer, for example, is […]
A fictional cyber-terrorist weaponizing a medical device by hacking into it has become a familiar plot premise in recent Hollywood dramas. Unfortunately, the risk of harm from medical device hacking has now become an actionable, real-world concern. In an unprecedented move, on July 31 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration issued an Alert to health care facilities to discontinue […]
On July 1, 2015 the FDA issued its final guidance regarding the intent to exempt certain unclassified medical devices, certain Class II medical devices, and certain Class I medical devices that are subject to the reserved criteria of section 510(l) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), 21 U.S.C. 360(l), from premarket […]
What are the latest trends on product recalls in the United States? Stericycle ExpertSOLUTIONS writes an interesting and informative quarterly report on this data, and its detail on the first quarter of 2015 is here. Consumer Products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been proactive in recent years with consumer product regulations and recalls, particularly […]
Large or small, every life science or medical technology company will eventually have to deal with a products liability claim or event. A lack of adequate planning for such an occurrence can result in damage to the brand, loss of consumer confidence, harm to the business and trigger potential regulatory consequences as well as result in […]
“I’ve been sued…now what?” Read on to learn the basics of what you might expect throughout the life of a product liability lawsuit. The Beginning. Product liability lawsuits begin well before a lawsuit is filed. They begin with a product and an injury. We’ll use a case from several years ago as our example. An […]
On December 1, 2015, a package of amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect. Two changes to Rule 26 contained within these amendments will go far to rein in overly broad discovery requests that are expensive to address and distracting from the merits of the litigation. First, Rule 26(b)(1) will delete the […]
