Why is there a rise in sales representatives being sued in medical device product liability cases?

Robyn Maguire: Five to ten years ago, the primary reason sales representatives were sued in product liability cases was tactical: to name a local defendant, thereby preventing removal of cases to federal court—the much-preferred jurisdiction for defendants.Today, sales representatives are facing lawsuits for more substantive reasons, including allegations that they promoted a product for an off-label use or breached a duty of care to a patient during the course of a surgical procedure, potentially imparting liability on the representative under common law negligence theories.These alleged duties had not previously been recognized under the law, and courts are just beginning to decide whether they exist at all and, if so, the nature of their scope.