AbbVie headquarters. Courtesy photo Personal Injury, Product Liability Suit Against AbbVie's CoolSculpting Returns to State Court
"The complaint generally alleges the elements for holding a medical provider strictly liable under a defective design theory, and AbbVie has not cited ... to a single case which addresses the pleading requirements in state court," wrote U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch for the District of New Jersey. "In order for a court to find fraudulent joinder, 'it must be impossible for a state court to find that a plaintiff has stated a valid cause of action.'"
July 17, 2024 at 04:38 PM
4 minute read
What You Need to Know
- A lawsuit against AbbVie, the parent company of the manufacturer of CoolSculpting, will return to New Jersey state court.
- A federal judge said AbbVie misinterpreted the federal joinder doctrine.
- The plaintiff brought the suit initially in New Jersey state court after having side effects from a CoolSculpting procedure.
A personal injury and product liability case against AbbVie, the parent company of the manufacturer of CoolSculpting technology, will continue in New Jersey state court, a federal judge decided this week after determining the pharmaceutical company did not prove it had been fraudulently joined with other defendants in the case.
U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch of the District of New Jersey issued a memorandum opinion July 15 granting plaintiff Kimberly Fenton's motion to remand her product liability case to New Jersey state court after it had been removed from Monmouth County Superior Court. Fenton brought claims against AbbVie and its subsidiary that markets devices for cryolipolysis procedures, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., as well as Velocity Wellness Institute, where she underwent the CoolSculpting cosmetic procedure that freezes fat cells.
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