Product Liability – MDL

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Teresa Sykes v. Cook Incorporated

Case No.: 22-1844

Officials: Easterbrook, St. Eve, and Kirsch, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Product Liability – MDL

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) centralized cases related to alleged defects in Cook’s inferior vena cava (IVC) filters. Many plaintiffs in the MDL claimed that Cook’s filters caused various injuries and damages. To manage the litigation, the district court implemented direct filing and case categorization procedures. In the case of Parton and Sykes, who were both implanted with Cook IVC filters, their filters were later found to have perforated their IVC walls, although they did not experience any symptoms. However, their product liability claims against Cook were dismissed by the district court, and the Seventh Circuit dismissed their appeal for lacking federal subject-matter jurisdiction, as the amount in controversy did not exceed the required threshold of $75,000 for diversity jurisdiction.

Remanded.

Decided 06/23/23

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