Opinion ID: 1288471
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Preemption of Inadequate Labeling and Failure To Warn Claims

Text: Cipollone decided that because a failure to warn claim required a showing that the manufacturer's promotional materials should have included additional or clearer warnings, the express preemption clause of the 1969 cigarette act barred such claims. Cipollone, 112 S.Ct. at 2621-22. At the same time, certain claims of negligence in testing in research and fraudulent misrepresentation in advertising were likewise preempted, while claims for false misrepresentation, express warranty, and conspiracy to misrepresent were permissible. Cipollone, 112 S.Ct. at 2622-25. [8] The Cipollone analysis holds true for FIFRA preemption: state common-law claims are expressly preempted to the extent they impose an additional or different labeling or packaging requirement. See Cipollone, 112 S.Ct. at 2621. Thus, we examine each of Plaintiff's claims and ask: does the underlying duty rely on a showing of inadequate labeling? On this basis, Plaintiff's claim for inadequate labeling is unquestionably barred. Nonetheless, Plaintiff suggests that even if FIFRA preempts an inadequate labeling claim, a separate claim for failure to warn through other channels, such as trade, sales, or advertisement, falls outside the preemptive scope. Thus, Plaintiff contends, its claim for failure to warn survives. [9] Only one court has accepted Plaintiff's distinction, deciding nonlabel failure to warn claims fell within FIFRA's savings clause permitting state regulation of pesticide use and sale. Burke, 797 F. Supp. at 1140-41; see also Couture, 804 F. Supp. at 1301. The flaw in this analysis is that any labeling regulation could be fairly characterized as a use regulation, whether positive or common law. The United States Supreme Court has explained in dicta the relation between FIFRA's savings clause and preemption clause: The specific grant of authority in § 136v(a) consequently does not serve to hand back to the States powers that the statute had impliedly usurped. Rather, it acts to ensure that the States could continue to regulate use and sales even where, such as with regard to the banning of [mislabeled] products, a narrow pre-emptive overlap might occur. .. . Mortier, 501 U.S. at 614. Labeling regulation represents a subset of use regulation. Mortier's permissible overlap allows states to ban EPA-registered pesticides, an authority unquestionably retained by the states. The explicit language of section 136v(b), however, completely preempts any state regulation of the labeling itself. We agree with the majority of courts refusing to distinguish nonlabel failure to warn claims: [A]ny claims that point-of-sale signs, consumer notices, or other informational materials failed adequately to warn the plaintiff necessarily challenge the adequacy of the warnings provided on the product's labeling or packaging. If a pesticide manufacturer places EPA-approved warnings on the label and packaging of its product, its duty to warn is satisfied, and the adequate warning issue ends. .. . Papas II, 985 F.2d at 519; see also Worm II, 5 F.3d at 748; Sowers, 867 F. Supp. at 313; In re DuPont-Benlate Litig., 859 F. Supp. 619, 623 (D.P.R. 1994); Pitts v. Dow Chem. Co., 859 F. Supp. 543, 549 (M.D. Ala. 1994); Jenkins, 1994 WL 701251, at . This analysis is borne out in the present case, where an examination of Plaintiff's failure to warn claim leads back to his reliance on a showing of inadequate labeling. Plaintiff further asserts FIFRA preemption of inadequate label and failure to warn claims does not preclude other negligence claims. We also note amicus' complaint that our decision regarding FIFRA preemption leaves plaintiffs remediless. Other courts preempting failure to warn claims have allowed other negligence claims to the extent they do not rely on a showing of inadequate labeling. See, e.g., Worm II, 5 F.3d at 747-49 (permitting claims for negligent testing and research based on defective product and express warranty claims not based on EPA-mandated statements); but see Papas II, 985 F.2d at 519-20 (holding FIFRA preempts implied warranty claims). We need not reach the issue of preemption of other negligence claims directly, as no evidence exists in the record to support any claims other than inadequate labeling and failure to warn. Notwithstanding, we again emphasize the narrow scope of FIFRA's preemption. Only common-law claims relying on an underlying tort of inadequate labeling are preempted. DURHAM, C.J., SMITH, GUY, JOHNSON, MADSEN, ALEXANDER, and TALMADGE, JJ., and UTTER, J. Pro Tem., concur.