Design Defect, Failure to Warn Claims Federally Preempted, Tenn. Judge Rules in Penile Implant Case

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Claims of design defect, failure to warn, and breach of implied warranty asserted against the maker of a penile implant device are federally preempted because they seek to impose state law requirements that are “different from, or in addition to” those imposed by federal law, a Tennessee federal judge has ruled.

In an Aug. 17 order, Chief Judge Thomas A. Varlan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee also dismissed the plaintiff’s breach of express warranty without prejudice, finding it is inadequately pled.

Stanley Spier’s surgeon, Dr. Brian Parker, implanted a Titan Prosthesis …