Mentor MemoryGel Breast Implant Claims Preempted, 10th Cir. Affirms

DENVER — A federal appeals panel has upheld dismissal of a lawsuit targeting Mentor Worldwide LLC’s MemoryGel silicone breast implants, ruling that the claims are expressly preempted because they would require the company to provide stronger warnings than those imposed by federal law.

In a Jan. 26 opinion, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel further ruled that the manufacturing defect claims are impliedly preempted because the plaintiffs were improperly attempting to enforce requirements under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Amber Brooks and Jamie Gale sued Mentor Worldwide LLC in the U.S. District Court for the District of …