United States Third Circuit

In a class-action suit alleging injury caused by methylmercury and other harmful compounds in defendant's canned tuna products, grant of a motion to dismiss is reversed and remanded where: 1) the FDA had not enacted a pervasive regulatory scheme regarding mercury in tuna that would preempt plaintiff's state-law claims; 2) the FDA's decision not to require warning labels on tuna was not a conclusive determination preempting a state failure-to-warn claim; and 3) the FDA had not expressly rejected mercury warnings as misbranding under federal law.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/12/2008
• Decided 08/19/2008
• Published 08/19/2008

Judges

• Before:  SLOVITER, SMITH and STAPLETON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• William O. Crutchlow, Khalid Elhassan, Eichen, Levinson & Crutchlow, Edison, NJ, Adina H. Rosenbaum (Argued), Brian Wolfman, Public Citizen Litigation Group, Washington, DC, Attorneys for Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Kenneth A. Schoen, Scott H. Goldstein, Bonner, Kiernan, Trebach & Crociata, Parsippany, NJ, John A. Kiernan (Argued), Bonner, Kiernan, Trebach & Crociata, Boston, MA, Attorneys for Appellee.