Cohen v. Johnson & Johnson, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182055 (W.D. Pa. October 5, 2022) (Hornak, D.J.) The court granted in part and denied in part defendant’s motion. Summary judgment was granted in favor of defendants and against plaintiffs on failure to warn only. Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is denied and the claim as to negligence and design defect will go forward. The court rejected those cases that said a strict liability case cannot be brought under comment k of Section 402A of the Restatement. The court determined defendants are not entitled to summary judgment on plaintiff’s strict liability claims because there were genuine issues of material fact. The court also wrote about the Learned Intermediary Doctrine and granted judgment there. The court also talked about the fraud and misrepresentation claims determining that the Learned Intermediary Doctrine does not bar plaintiff’s fraud and misrepresentation claims. The court then went ahead and looked at each claim, and wound up granting defendant’s motion anyway.
Attorney Cliff Rieders
Cliff Rieders is a Nationally Board Certified Trial Lawyer practicing personal injury law. A large part of his practice involves multi-district litigation, including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements and medical devices. He is admitted in several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Rieders is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the Board for 15 years.
Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed, leadership positions, he authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. Rieders also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West Publishing.
As recognition of his wide range of contribution to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award, and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. [ Attorney Bio ]