U. S. Supreme Court Holds That Federal Law Protects Manufacturers Of Defective Hearing Aids.

Posted by Brent AdamsApril 23, 2008 1:13 AM

Federal law protects manufacturers of defective hearing aids.

Under a recent federal law passed by congress no matter how defective the hearing aid, if the federal Food and Drug Administration approves the product, the manufacturer is immune from any liability for its' defective products. States have no power to protect its' citizens from defective products and drugs. Federal law trumps state law in this situation.

The FDA during the Bush administration, has been notoriously lax in protecting the public from harmful products and drugs. The FDA is under staffed and under funded and simply does not have the resources or the apparent inclination to protect the public from sloppy manufacturers.

The U. S. Supreme Court has now put its stamp of approval on this anti-consumer legislation.

The effect is to put this small understaffed agency, the lame FDA , in charge of all hearing aid laws in the United States, both state and federal.

 

Because of the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme court that medical device makers are protected from liability when their devices have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a recent product liability case against the maker of a defective hearing aid has been dismissed by the Supreme Court of Arkansas. The suit was against Soundtec, a hearing aid manufacturer. The suit was  filed by a man who alleges that he received personal injuries from ear damage that was the result of having a hearing device implanted in his right ear in 2002.

 

While the February ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will negate some product liability suits related to defective medical devices that are currently making their way through state courts, how great an effect it will have is unclear due to most medical devices on the market today going through a different approval process than the one at issue in this case.

One suit that was apparently nullified was the claim Gary Despain filed against Soundtec. In 2004, Soundtec argued successfully that state law was pre-empted by federal law in the matter and therefore the state court had no jurisdiction. Despain’s attorneys filed an appeal and on Friday, April 11, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling. The suit was later returned to the lower court, but within two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court’s pre-emption decision was handed down. Soundtec’s attorneys asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider the earlier decision and the dismissal was reinstated.

According to Despain’s attorney, he continues to be unemployed and disabled because of the device, which caused him to suffer severe ringing in his ear before later being removed. His job at Franklin Electric Co. further aggravated the problem because of machines producing electromagnetic fields.