Fla. Federal Judge Dismisses Device Action Against Abbott for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

MIAMI — A federal judge has dismissed a medical device lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories for lack of personal jurisdiction, ruling that its later merger with the actual manufacturer of the devices at issue did not provide that Abbott assumed any prior product liability.

In a Nov. 24 order, Judge Marcia Cooke rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the merger falls under an exception to successor liability because Abbott is a “mere continuation” of the devices’ manufacturer, St. Jude Inc. Continuation is based upon corporate structure, and the plaintiff offered no evidence as to the corporate structure of either company, the judge …