Ethicon Awarded Summary Judgment on Strict Liability Claims in Pa. Pelvic Mesh Action

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge has awarded Ethicon summary judgment on strict liability claims in a pelvic mesh action, predicting that the state supreme court would find they are barred by comment k of the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402(a).

In a Feb. 13 order, Judge Petrese Tucker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania explained that “as a result of the current state of Pennsylvania law, strict liability claims cannot proceed against medical device manufacturers.”

However, the judge allowed the negligence claims to proceed, finding questions of fact as to whether the plaintiff’s …