Manufacturing Defect Claim Survives Summary Judgment in Heart Valve Case

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Minnesota state judge has allowed a plaintiff to proceed with her manufacturing defect claim in a mechanical heart valve case, ruling that the claim does not seek to impose requirements that are "different from or in addition to" federal requirements. Barbara A. Lamere v. St. Jude Medical Inc., No. 62-7618 (Minn. Dist. Ct., Ramsey Cty.).

Judge Robert A. Awsumb further ruled that the case is not time-barred by Minnesota's wrongful death statute of limitations because the cause of action accrued upon the death of the decedent, rather than on the date the device was implanted. …