Plaintiffs have a tough time suing medical device companies for state law breach-of-warranty claims because they are often preempted by federal law.

But Austin attorney Jeff Meyerson beat those odds when he recently convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse a preemption of his client's warranty case against the manufacturer of an electronic pain-relieving device because it was "parallel'' to federal requirements imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The background to his win in Wildman v. Medtronic is as follows, according to the court opinion.

The lawsuit began with Ray Wildman's filing of a state law warranty claim against Medtronic alleging the neurostimulator device it produced that was implanted in his back to relieve pain did not last as long as the company promised.

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