Glover v. Bausch & Lomb, Inc.

Citations

• 343 Conn. 513

Syllabus

Pursuant to the Connecticut Product Liability Act (CPLA) (§ 52-572q (a) and (d)), a product seller may be subject to liability for harm caused to an individual who proves that the product was defective insofar as adequate warnings or instructions were not provided, and the product seller may not be considered to have provided adequate warnings or instructions unless they were devised to communicate with the person or entity best able to take or recommend precautions against the poten- tial harm. 514 JUNE, 2022 343 Conn. 513 Glover v. Bausch & Lomb, Inc. Pursuant further to the CPLA (§ 52-572n (a)), ''[a] product liability claim as provided [under that act] may be asserted and shall be in lieu of all other claims against product sellers, including actions of negligence, strict liability and warranty, for harm caused by a product.'' The plaintiffs, M and her husband, sought to recover damages from the defendants in federal court in connection with two surgical procedures in which a medical device manufactured and marketed by the defen- dants, known as the Trulign Lens, was implanted in each of M's eyes for the purpose of treating her cataracts. M began to experience vision loss after the procedure, and her surgeon diagnosed her with a postopera- tive complication known as Z syndrome. M underwent multiple proce- dures to remove the artificial lenses and to correct her vision, but fragments of the lenses remained, causing permanent impairment to her eyesight. The plaintiffs alleged, inter alia, that the defendants were negligent and had failed to warn M and her surgeon of the inherent dangers of the Trulign Lens. In support of those claims, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were aware that the Trulign Lens had caused Z syndrome in numerous cases, that the defendants had failed to report all of those cases to the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a timely manner, as required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) (21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.)