3rd Cir. Upholds Dismissal of Abbott Labs Device Case, Says Claims Preempted

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appellate panel has upheld dismissal of a lawsuit targeting Abbott Laboratories’ Perclose Closure Device, affirming that the claims are preempted because the plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege a violation of state law that parallels federal regulations.

In a Nov. 3 opinion, the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals noted that in their complaint, plaintiffs did not set forth the device’s premarket approval requirements; as such, they did “not provide any non-conclusory, non-speculative allegations to support a parallel claim.”

Manuel Irizarry underwent a coronary and peripheral vascular catheterization, after which the Perclose device was used to …