OPINION
On appeal from summary judgment, appellant argues that the district court erred by concluding that appellant’s manufacturing-defect claim was preempted by the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) of 1976 to the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. By notice of related appeal, respondent argues that the district court erred by concluding that appellant’s claim is not time-barred under Minnesota’s wrongful-death statute of limitations. Because we conclude that a claim arises at the time the alleged wrong-doing occurred, we reverse the district court’s order and hold that appellant’s manufacturing-defect claim is time-barred, and affirm the district court’s award of summary judgment. And because we conclude that the appeal is meritorious, we deny respondent’s motion for sanctions pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 549.211 (2012).
FACTS
In February 1988, Thomas C. Lamere (Mr. Lamere), a California resident, underwent a successful surgical implantation of a mechanical heart valve to replace his mitral heart valve. The heart valve implanted in Mr. Lamere was a St. Jude Medical Mechanical Heart Valve, Model
Appellant Barbara A. Lamere (Ms. Lamere), Mr. Lamere’s wife and also a California resident, brought suit in Ramsey County District Court on July 9, 2010, against respondents St. Jude Medical, Inc., et al. (St. Jude). Ms. Lamere’s complaint asserted numerous claims, including wrongful death, loss of consortium, strict liability (manufacturing defect), breach of express and implied warranty, negligence, misrepresentation, and fraud. St. Jude moved for summary judgment, arguing that Ms. Lamere’s claims were barred by the applicable statutes of limitation, under either Minnesota or California law, and preempted by the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) of 1976 to the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360k.
In opposition to the motion for summary judgment, Ms. Lamere provided the affidavit of Dr. Richard I. Fukumoto, M.D., who performed the autopsy on Mr. Lamere and concluded that the cause of death was likely related to the failure of the mechanical heart valve. Ms. Lamere also provided the affidavit of Dr. Constantine D. Armen-iades, a professor emeritus at Rice University in the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Dr. Armen-iades stated that he examined Mr. Lam-ere’s mechanical heart valve using an electron microscope and observed “pores near the fracture and crevasses on the fracture surface” indicating that “[t]hese defects led to the formation and propagation of cracks, which eventually caused the valve leaflet to fracture and separate.” In Dr. Armeniades’s opinion, “the fracture of ... [Mr.] Lamere’s valve was caused by a manufacturing defect which occurred due to the failure to properly finish and polish the valve leaflet, and failure to detect its flaws during the post-manufacture inspection.”
In support of its motion for summary judgment, St. Jude presented the affidavit of Michael F. Coyle, its regulatory-affairs manager. Included as an attachment to the affidavit was the “Traveler,” a document that recorded each federally required step in the device’s manufacturing process. According to Coyle, the Traveler “reflects that the Model 33M-101 Standard Bi-leaflet Mechanical Heart Valve, serial number 166155 completed all manufacturing processes, inspections, and quality control processes satisfactorily with no discrepancies noted, meaning that ... [it] complied with all FDA requirements at the time it was shipped out of St. Jude’s custody and control.”
The district court issued its order on February 7, 2011, denying St. Jude’s motion for summary judgment on statute-of-limitations grounds. The district court concluded that Minnesota’s wrongful-death statute does not bar Ms. Lamere’s claim because the event that caused the limitations period to run was Mr. Lamere’s injury and death, not the implantation or manufacture of the device as claimed by St. Jude. In its choice-of-law analysis, the district court concluded that Minnesota’s three-year statute of limitations applied and not California’s two-year statute of limitations because statutes of limitation are procedural, not substantive, and the procedural law of the forum state applies.
However, the district court granted St. Jude’s motion for summary judgment on preemption grounds on all of Ms. Lamere’s claims except her claim that the device was damaged in the manufacturing process. The district court concluded that the affidavit of Dr. Armeniades created a genuine
Following several months of discovery, St. Jude again moved for summary judgment, arguing that Ms. Lamere failed to present any evidence that St. Jude violated any federal rules with respect to its manufacture of the device implanted in Mr. Lamere, and therefore her claim was preempted because Ms. Lamere failed to present evidence of a parallel claim. The district court granted St. Jude’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that Ms. Lamere failed to cite any federal requirement that St. Jude failed to follow, and that Ms. Lamere’s common-law claim based in either negligence or strict liability is preempted by federal law.
This appeal followed. Ms. Lamere contested the district court’s grant of summary judgment on federal-preemption grounds. St. Jude also appealed, contesting the district court’s denial of summary judgment on the statute-of-limitations issue, and moved for sanctions pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 549.211.
ISSUES
I. Did the district court err by denying summary judgment on the statute-of-limitations issue, concluding that Ms. Lam-ere’s wrongful-death claim is not time-barred by Minn.Stat. § 573.02?
II. Did the district court err by granting summary judgment in favor of St. Jude, concluding that Ms. Lamere’s manufacturing-defect claim is preempted by federal law?
III. Is St. Jude entitled to attorney fees under Minn.Stat. § 549.211?
ANALYSIS
A motion for summary judgment shall be granted if “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that either party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Minn. R. Civ. P. 56.03. On an appeal from summary judgment, an appellate court “review[s] the record to determine whether there is any genuine issue of material fact and whether the district court erred in its application of the law.” Dahlin v. Kroening,
I.
St. Jude argues that, under either Minnesota or California law, Ms. Lamere’s manufacturing-defect claim is time-barred because her claim arose when the mechanical heart valve was manufactured prior to 1988. In the alternative, St. Jude argues that the district court should have applied California’s shorter limitations period in this case, because the case lacks sufficient ties to Minnesota for Minnesota law to be applied.
St. Jude argues that pursuant to the plain language of the statute Ms. Lamere’s claim is time-barred because it was not commenced within six years from the date of the “act or omission,” which it interprets as the date the mechanical heart valve was manufactured or implanted into Mr. Lam-eré. We agree. The Minnesota statute of limitations clearly contemplates that some wrongful-death claims will expire prior to death:
The current version [of Minn.Stat. § 573.02] ... presents the possibility that a wrongful death action could expire before death by limiting the bringing of actions to six years after the act or omission. Time-barring a wrongful death action before death triggers accrual of the right to bring the action has been criticized as illogical and unjust. Despite any injustice or illogie to such an approach, the plain meaning of the statute seems to be clear.... [T]he legislature is expressing its intention to bar actions for some deaths caused by wrongful acts or omissions even if they are brought on the day of death.
DeCosse v. Armstrong Cork Co.,
Because we conclude that the statute is unambiguous, we must apply the statute pursuant to its plain language. State by Beaulieu v. RSJ, Inc.,
Ms. Lamere urges this court to adopt a statutory interpretation that would give effect to the legislature’s intent to bar some causes of action six years from the act or omission causing death while not barring cases involving a latent injury that was not discoverable by the decedent until
Moreover, Minnesota courts have expressly rejected the “discovery rule,” thereby refusing to hold that the limitations period for wrongful death does not begin to run until the time that the decedent realized his injury. DeCosse,
Minnesota law recognizes only one general equitable tolling exception, which arises when the plaintiff can demonstrate that the defendant engaged in fraudulent concealment. DeCosse,
II.
Even if Ms. Lamere’s claims were not time-barred, the district court did not err by granting St. Jude’s motion for summary judgment and concluding that the claims are barred by federal preemption.
Congress enacted the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) of 1976 to “provide for the safety and effectiveness of medical devices intended for human use.” Medtronic v. Lohr,
Before a Class III device may be introduced into the market, it must undergo “premarket approval” (PMA).
With respect to federally approved medical devices, Congress provided an express preemption provision;
[N]o State or political subdivision of a State may establish or continue in effect with respect to a device intended for human use any requirement—
(1) which is different from, or in addition to, any requirement applicable under this chapter to the device, and
(2) which relates to the safety or effectiveness of the device or to any other matter included in a requirement applicable to the device under this chapter.
21 U.S.C. § 360k(a). In determining the proper scope of preemption, courts look to the congressional purpose of the preemption statute and begin from the assumption that congress did not intend to preempt state law “unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress.” Lohr,
Ms. Lamere argues that St. Jude violated federal Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) (also known as Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs)), and therefore her claim parallels federal requirements for the manufacture of the device at issue. The federal circuit courts are split as to whether federal GMPs may form the basis of a parallel claim. See Bass v. Stryker Corp.,
Ms. Lamere has identified two GMPs that she believes support her parallel claim. The first provides:
Each manufacturer shall develop, conduct, control, and monitor production processes to ensure that a device conforms to its specifications. Where deviations from device specifications could occur as a result of the manufacturing process, the manufacturer shall establish and maintain process control procedures that describe any process controls necessary to ensure conformance to specifications.
21 C.F.R. § 820.70(a). The other GMP identified by Ms. Lamere provides in pertinent part:
Each manufacturer shall establish and maintain procedures to control product that does not conform to specified requirements. The procedures shall address the identification, documentation, evaluation, segregation, and disposition of nonconforming product. The evaluation of nonconformance shall include a determination of the need for an investigation and notification of the persons or organizations responsible for the non-conformance.
Without concluding that a GMP may never form the basis of a valid parallel claim, we hold that in this case Ms. Lamere failed to sufficiently plead a parallel claim based on the specific GMPs she cites. We observe that those circuit court cases approving of the use of GMPs as a basis for a parallel claim require that the plaintiff plead "with greater specificity. See, e.g., Bass,
In the alternative, Ms. Lamere argues that she does not need to show a violation of federal law because there is no federal law specifically on point to preempt her state-law claim. Put another way, she argues that because no federal regulation requires or permits the mechanical heart valve to contain pores and crevasses, a state tort claim does not impose a requirement that is different from or in addition to the federal requirements for the device. We disagree.
In Riegel, the plaintiff similarly argued that “the duties underlying negligence, strict-liability, and implied-warranty claims are not pre-empted even if they impose ‘requirements, because general common-law duties are not requirements maintained with respect to devices.’ ”
Ms. Lamere argues that her case is distinguishable from Riegel because her claim does not seek to “call into question the judgment of the manufacturer in marketing the type of device at issue or the judgment of the FDA.” She argues that a general state-law duty not to distribute products with manufacturing flaws does not impose any requirements on St. Jude that are different from or in addition to federal requirements that are specifically applicable. But this argument ignores Riegel, which concluded that “[g]eneral tort duties of care ... ‘directly regulate’
The PMA process does not guarantee that every device is safe: “As the Supreme Court aptly recognized, the premarket approval process is ultimately a cost-benefit analysis in which the potential health benefits are weighed against the potential risks.” Clark v. Medtronic, Inc.,
III.
St. Jude moved for attorney fees on appeal as a sanction, seeking just over $17,000, pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 549.211. Sanctions may be imposed if the claims raised by Ms. Lamere are not “warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law.” See Minn.Stat. § 549.211, subd. 2(2). Because there is a federal-circuit split on the issue of preemption and a lack of clarity regarding the interpretation of Minnesota’s wrongful-death statute of limitations, we conclude that the appeal was meritorious, and we decline to award attorney fees. We therefore deny St. Jude’s motion.
DECISION
Minnesota’s wrongful-death statute of limitations begins to run at the time the alleged wrongdoing occurs, not at the time the plaintiffs injury is discovered or becomes discoverable. Moreover, to sufficiently plead a parallel claim to avoid federal preemption under the MDA, a plaintiff must do more than merely raise the possibility of a violation of federal GMPs. Accordingly, we reverse the district court on the statute-of-limitations issue and affirm the district court on the issue of federal preemption and deny attorney fees.
Affirmed in part and reversed in part; motion denied.
Notes
. Ms. Lamere also relies on a federal district court case, Henry v. Raynor Mfg. Co.,
. Some Class III devices may enter the marketplace without undergoing PMA if they are "substantially equivalent” to a device already on the market. 21 U.S.C. § 360(o)(l) (2006); Lohr,
