In Brief: Supreme Court preemption cases

Supreme Court preemption cases: High Court remands to Illinois state court in Chicago the case of Kernatz v. SIMS by electing not to review a writ of certiorari submitted on behalf of SIMS. SIMS argued in the case that liability claims against a device approved under the agency's premarket approval and investigational device exemption processes are preempted by FDA requirements ("The Gray Sheet" Dec. 15, p. 7). The court concurrently elected not to review a petition in the case of Collagen v. Fiore, which also deals with the preemption issue. The two decisions represent the most recent denials by the high court of writs related to the preemption issue following the court's June 26, 1996 ruling in Medtronic v. Lohr. In April 1997, the court chose not to review the case of Ruth Hunter v. Iolab, which focuses on the preemption of state tort claims by FDA's IDE regulations ("The Gray Sheet" April 28, 1997, p. 10). The court also declined to review the case of Collagen v. Mitchell...