The Drug and Medical Device Committee is the preeminent continuing legal education organization for trial counsel, corporate counsel and risk management professionals who are involved in the defense of drug and medical device litigation. Committee members explore a diverse selection of product areas, such as biologicals/vaccines, blood products, medical devices, over-the-counter and prescription drugs and much more.
This past May, we concluded our annual Drug and Medical Device Seminar which was held this year in New York City. In keeping with our tradition of providing the very best combination of substantive and demonstrative lessons, the sessions included, among others, a trial demonstration on the effective use of regulatory experts, a timely discussion by the general counsel of GlaxoSmithKline on the impact of the Riegel and Levine preemption decisions, a presentation on the keys to developing and arguing an effective "FDA defense," a trial skills demonstration of the effect of gender bias, trial demonstrations of the direct and cross-examinations of a human factors expert and a regulatory expert, a presentation on defending causation claims asserted by a thin-skulled plaintiff, and a panel discussion featuring the general counsel of Boston Scientific on the subject of the evolving global landscape for pharmaceutical and medical device litigation.
The Drug and Medical Device Steering Committee is already planning next year's Seminar. It will be held in San Francisco on May 20-21, 2010. Make plans now to join us.
In the last year, the Drug and Medical Device Committee has been a part of several important and successful programs and initiatives. Thus far in 2009, the Committee hosted a Webinar on
Strategies for Success. Past Committee Chair Michael Davis also spoke at a Webinar on the impact of the Supreme Court's decisions in
Wyeth and Levine.
In 2008, the Committee published two issues of its newsletter,
Rx For The Defense. The articles covered numerous substantive and procedural topics such as checking your company's "pulse" in the world of blogs, preparing sales representatives for depositions and bellwether trials. The newsletter is distributed electronically and is available to all members of the Drug and Medical Device Committee. We intend to publish two issues annually.
The Committee continues it tradition of coordinating an excellent collection of drug and medical device-related articles that were published in the July 2009 issue of
For The Defense. The issue included eight articles on issues relevant to drug and medical device litigation, including articles on medical monitoring class actions, federal preemption defense post-
Levine, defending parties in the chain of distribution, the Court's decision in
Conte, preemption in nonprescription drug cases, the Biomaterials Access Assurance Act, the learned intermediate landscape from the patient's perspective and educating the court with scientific tutorials and court-appointed experts.
In September 2008, the Committee once again presented its popular Litigation Primer for lawyers new to the practice. This one-day program brings together many of the most outstanding trial lawyers and in-house counsel in the country to share their experiences with younger lawyers. Topics included the FDA regulatory system, defenses in drug and medical device litigation, medical causation, the law of failure to warn claims and a number of other key topics for the new practitioner. Look for the next Litigation Primer to be held in fall of 2010.
The Drug and Medical Device Committee is one of DRI's largest committees, and there are endless opportunities to become involved. Please contact
Jack McCowan or
Scott Sayler if you are interested in becoming active in the Committee.