Reed

BACKGROUND

In February 2011, Reed filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court against Medtronic, Kevin Shannon, M.D., and The Regents of the University of California (the Regents). The initial complaint asserted medical negligence against the Regents and their employees and three causes of action against Medtronic related to Medtronic’s manufacture and sale of an implantable cardiac defibrillator (the Secura ICD), which had been implanted in Reed during his 2009 surgery at UCLA Medical Center. In June, Reed amended the complaint, again asserting medical negligence against the Regents but altering the scope of his claim to assert a single cause of action against Medtronic, alleging that his Secura ICD contained a defect in the software that controlled its operation. Medtronic answered the amended complaint asserting federal preemption as an affirmative defense, among others. In October 2011, Medtronic filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that federal law preempted the claim for negligent manufacture. On December 5, 2011, Reed opposed the motion for summary judgment and requested a continuance under Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, subdivision (h). Reed argued that a…