Strict Product Liability, Warning Claims to Proceed in Smith & Nephew BHR Hip Case

CHARLESTON, W. Va. — Claims of strict products liability, failure to warn, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and loss of consortium may proceed against Smith & Nephew Inc. in connection with its Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System because they are not federally preempted and are adequately pled, a West Virginia federal judge has ruled.

In a Dec. 15 order, Judge Thomas E. Johnston of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia explained that in these claims, the plaintiffs seek to impose state law regulations that are “parallel” to those imposed under federal law. Plaintiffs also sufficiently …