Claims Cut Back
Other allegations fell away. Judge May dismissed Rickard’s claim that Teva misrepresented the product directly to her, noting she relied on general internet searches and online reading without identifying specific statements made by the company.
The judge also trimmed Rickard’s breach of warranty claim, ruling she failed to give Teva the required notice of the alleged breach before filing suit.
A Bellwether in a Bigger Storm
Rickard’s case is one of hundreds pending in multidistrict litigation over Paragard, a small T-shaped plastic device wrapped in copper wire. Developed by Teva and sold to Cooper in 2017, the IUD is alleged to have a tendency to fracture in the uterus, particularly during removal.
Rickard received her Paragard from a Florida physician in 2012 and says she needed “complicated medical interventions” to extract the broken device.
In November, Judge May granted partial summary judgment to Cooper, holding that Rickard and other bellwether plaintiffs could not pursue design defect claims against Cooper because they received their devices before Cooper acquired the product line.
