Following her recent Law360 article, Law and Regulation of 3-D Printed Medical Devices, Executive Managing Partner Kim Schmid spoke with Minnesota Lawyer on the product liability concerns which lie ahead as 3D printing technology continues to rapidly grow.
“There are definitely fewer answers than there are questions," said Kim. “Who is the manufacturer of the product? Who is the seller? What is the product?...That’s what people really don’t know, is who’s liable: Is it the manufacturer of the 3D printer? The software designer? The surgeon in the O.R. who presses the button, or the hospital that owns the printer?”
As little guidance from case law currently exists on the legal issues surrounding the technology, manufacturers and lawyers alike eagerly await the first 3D printed product case to appear before a court, and, perhaps more importantly, the outcome to follow.
“It’s only been in the past 12 months that the FDA approved the first pharmaceutical product printed via 3D,” said Kim. “We’re still in the infancy of how the courts will deal with this.”
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