Buckman Co. v. Plaintiffs’ Legal Committee

Summary

The Court, in an opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist joined by Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, held that federal law impliedly preempts the plaintiffs' state-law fraud-on-the-FDA claims and reversed the Third Circuit. No presumption against preemption applied because policing fraud against a federal agency is not a traditional state function. The claims would interfere with the FDA's enforcement discretion and balance of regulatory objectives, and they depended on federal disclosure duties rather than independent, traditional state tort duties. The Court did not decide express preemption. Justice Stevens, joined by Justice Thomas, concurred in the judgment because the FDA's failure to remove the devices despite knowing the allegations prevented plaintiffs from proving causation. He rejected the majority's broader rationale and would permit claims where the FDA had found fraud and removed the product.