On Halloween, the Supreme Court denied certiorari — that is it declined to hear — an appeal in Stryker v. Bausch, a case in which a woman sued for injuries she received from an FDA-approved artificial hip that was later recalled.

Since the lower court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled in the woman’s favor, the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case allowed the woman’s victory to stand.

The argument on the part of the hip manufacturer was that the FDA approval process insulated it from liability.

We’ve seen what a joke the FDA approval process of medical devices can be. And we’ve also written a lot about how tort liability is superior to regulation — both from the perspective of compensating injury victims and from the perspective of insuring that the public has access to all kinds of new, safe medical devices.

So, two cheers for the Supreme Court. It doesn’t always get things wrong.

This blog is maintained by the Boston product liability lawyers at The Law Office of Alan H. Crede, P.C.