We try to keep abreast of what’s happening out there. Our goal, not always met, is to check the federal courts of appeals’ websites every day. We run searches and check some other things, too. But we can’t follow everything, especially if it’s not directly drug/device related. That’s why we’re indebted to our readers, such as Jeff Yeatman at DLA Piper, for sending us items that they think we should know about – and even telling us why.

The Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in Rhodes v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 636 F.3d 88 (4th Cir. 2011), is an example. Sure, we’d seen the blurbs about it from BNA and other sources, but Rhodes is an environmental contamination (alleged) case, so we’d let it go by. But there’s something else about Rhodes that touches on something near and dear to our hearts – federalism in the context of state-law tort litigation in federal court.