Ind. Federal Judge Dismisses Warning, Design Defect Claims in Medtronic Pump Action

HAMMOND, Ind. — An Indiana federal judge has dismissed failure-to-warn and design defects in a Medtronic SynchroMed II pump action, finding they are preempted because they seek to impose state regulations that are “different from, or in addition to” federal law.

However, in the Jan. 3 order, Chief Judge Theresa Springmann of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana allowed the plaintiff’s manufacturing defect claim to proceed, noting that such claims are not preempted under 7th Circuit precedent.

Kirk Bledsoe was implanted with Medtronic’s SynchroMed II Programmable Implantable Drug Infusion System in June 2011. The device …