In an op-ed in the Huffington Post (1/5), AAJ President Anthony Tarricone wrote, “Last week, two studies were released showing how the FDA lacks stringent scientific standards to evaluate cardiovascular medical devices. This underscores the need to pass the Medical Device Safety Act (MDSA), legislation that would help…hundreds of thousands of [patients] injured by faulty medical devices to hold the manufacturers accountable for their defective products.” The MDSA “would follow the Supreme Court’s decision in Wyeth v. Levine, which held that federal law does not preempt state-law claims with regard to drug warning labels.” Tarricone focuses on the story of Avery deGroh, who was three years old when “the Medtronic lead to her implanted heart defibrillator fractured, sending nine shocks to her heart, similar to the sensation of being electrocuted nine times.”
