After months of anticipation, the U.S. Senate finally confirmed Dana Baiocco as a Commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on May 22, 2018. President Trump first nominated Commissioner Baiocco on...more
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that on May 16, 2018, it will hold a public hearing on “potential safety issues and hazards associated with internet-connected consumer products.” The Commission...more
The U.S. Supreme Court may soon revisit one of its seminal decisions defining products liability law for pharmaceutical manufacturers. That decision — Wyeth v. Levine — addressed whether a branded manufacturer could be held...more
With the start of the new year, President Trump again nominated Republican Ann Marie Buerkle to chair the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Her expected confirmation will continue to push the CPSC in a more...more
In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance on Technical Considerations for Additive Manufactured Medical Devices. The guidance represents FDA’s efforts to provide regulatory direction about...more
"My Google Home Mini was inadvertently spying on me 24/7 due to a hardware flaw,” wrote a tech blogger who purchased Google Inc.’s latest internet of things (IoT) device. Following the incident, a pact of consumer advocacy...more
“Make fine lines and wrinkles disappear!” “Reduce the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles!” At first read, these claims sound one in the same. But for decades, a slight difference in phrasing of cosmetics claims—created...more
“The rise of powerful AI will be either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity. We do not know which.” –Stephen Hawking
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and autonomous technology will shape the future, affect...more
Nearly ten years after the first three phthalates were banned from children’s toys by Congress, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a final rule on October 27 prohibiting five more. The rule bans the...more
A federal district court in Wisconsin recently hit Spectrum Brands Inc. (Spectrum) with civil penalties of $1.9 million for violations of the Consumer Products Safety Act (CPSA). The court’s 23-page opinion is a strong...more
In the coming years, we expect to see an explosion in the number of interoperable medical devices. These are connected medical devices that have the ability to connect to different technologies and devices, even from other...more
On October 4, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved Ann Marie Buerkle’s (R-NY) nomination to the position of Chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after a two-day...more
In a split across party lines, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or the “Commission”) recently voted on a largely unprecedented course of action: to ban an entire class of chemicals from popular consumer...more
President Trump announced on September 21, 2017, that his intent to nominate Jones Day partner Dana Baiocco to the position of Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for a 7-year term starting next...more
In a unanimous vote, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) eliminated third-party testing for compliance with CPSC’s phthalates prohibitions for seven plastics. The Commission decided that these plastics with...more
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the scope of specific personal jurisdiction in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, San Francisco Cty., 137 S. Ct. 1773 (2017) (“BMS”). Mass tort defendants...more
On July 24, 2017, the White House announced President Trump’s intent to nominate Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY) as the next Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for a seven year term beginning October 27, 2018....more
At the midpoint of 2017, we look back on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s activity under the new administration, including how recalls and penalties stack up against previous years, new focal points for safety...more
The Tenth Circuit recently upheld a Utah district court’s finding that a branded drug manufacturer could not be held liable for failing to warn consumers about alleged birth defect risks when the FDA had previously rejected a...more
On June 7, 2017, a Central District Court of California declined to certify a class of consumers who alleged that 5-Hour Energy’s marketing of an energy drink was misleading, finding that individual factual questions...more
On April 13, 2017, in Azoulai v. BMW of N. Am. LLC (Case No. 16-cv-00589), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a proposed consumer fraud class action against BMW of North America LLC...more
On April 13, 2017, in Azoulai v. BMW of N. Am. LLC (Case No. 16-cv-00589), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a proposed consumer fraud class action against BMW of North America LLC...more
Last month, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a complete defense verdict for Abbott Laboratories Inc. which was based in part on branded drug preemption. Rheinfrank v. Abbott Laboratories Inc., Case No. 16-3347, 2017 WL 680349 (6th...more
President Trump recently announced his intent to nominate a new commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), likely sealing the fate of FDA’s proposed generic drug labeling rule. The proposed rule would give...more
We have entered the next chapter in the ongoing saga of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (“CPSC”) regulation of high-powered, small, rare earth magnet sets (“SREMS”). On March 1, 2017, CPSC met and unanimously...more