A federal judge in Massachusetts has granted summary judgment to defendant Schepens Eye Research Institute on the sole remaining claim of strict products liability due to a design defect in a surgical implant after the defense presented uncontested evidence that the product was state-of-the-art when the plaintiff underwent surgery in 1986.

Schepens Eye Research Institute (SERI), designed an implant to treat retinal detachment called a "scleral buckling device," sold under the name MIRAgel. The implant was tested, beginning in the 1970′s, and a patent was acquired in 1984. Plaintiff Nancy Daley had surgery in New York in 1986 for retinal detachment where her doctor used the MIRAgel implant. Although Daley's procedure was initially successful, the implant began to swell and decay over time, according to the opinion.