Comment k Bars Strict Liability Claims in IVC Filter Case, Pa. Federal Judge Rules

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge has dismissed claims of strict liability and breach of implied warranty in a Bard IVC filter action, predicting that the state supreme court would rule that comment k to § 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts bars such causes of action in medical device cases.

However, in the Aug. 17 order, Judge Gene E.K. Pratter of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania allowed the claims of negligence, negligent failure to warn, and punitive damages to proceed.

Harry Keen III was involved in a motorcycle accident on June 14, 2020, …