Eliquis Warning, Design Defect Claims Against BMS, Pfizer Dismissed as Preempted

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has dismissed claims of failure-to-warn and design defect claims against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Pfizer Inc. in an Eliquis action, ruling they are preempted by federal law.

In a June 14 order, Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York also severed the claims against two drug distributor defendants and remanded them to California state court. The judge found those defendants were joined to the action solely to destroy diversity jurisdiction.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation created an MDL docket for all federal Eliquis …