Buckman Co. v. Plaintiffs' Legal Comm., 531 U.S. 341, 12 (2001)

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352

BUCKMAN CO. v. PLAINTIFFS' LEGAL COMM.

Opinion of the Court

Silkwood is different from the present case, however, in several respects. Silkwood's claim was not based on any sort of fraud-on-the-agency theory, but on traditional state tort law principles of the duty of care owed by the producer of plutonium fuel pins to an employee working in its plant. See 464 U. S., at 241. Moreover, our decision there turned on specific statutory evidence that Congress "disclaimed any interest in promoting the development and utilization of atomic energy by means that fail to provide adequate remedies for those who are injured by exposure to hazardous nuclear materials." Id., at 257. In the present case, by contrast, we have clear evidence that Congress intended that the MDA be enforced exclusively by the Federal Government. 21 U. S. C. § 337(a).

Respondent also suggests that we should be reluctant to find a pre-emptive conflict here because Congress included an express pre-emption provision in the MDA. See Brief for Respondent 37. To the extent respondent posits that anything other than our ordinary pre-emption principles apply under these circumstances, that contention must fail in light of our conclusion last Term in Geier v. American Honda Motor Co., 529 U. S. 861 (2000), that neither an express pre-emption provision nor a saving clause "bar[s] the ordinary working of conflict pre-emption principles." Id., at 869.

We must also reject respondent's attempt to characterize both the claims at issue in Medtronic (common-law negligence action against the manufacturer of an allegedly defective pacemaker lead) and the fraud claims here as "claims arising from violations of FDCA requirements." Brief for Respondent 38. Notwithstanding the fact that Medtronic did not squarely address the question of implied pre-emption, it is clear that the Medtronic claims arose from the manufacturer's alleged failure to use reasonable care in the production of the product, not solely from the violation of FDCA requirements. See 518 U. S., at 481. In the present case,

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