Third Circuit creates split regarding preemption for vaccine design

In Bruesewitz v. Wyeth Inc., the Third Circuit of the Federal Court of Appeals prohibited children injured by a vaccine from taking legal action.  The Georgia Supreme Court had ruled the opposite way in American Home Products Corp. v.  Ferrari.  The U.S. Supreme Court has granted cert. in Ferrari.  The Bruesewitz decision was based on the concept of preemption, i.e., the argument that Congress legislated in a particular topic area, thereby precluding states from acting in that area to protect their citizens.  Preemption has been a fertile ground for Bush-era efforts to immunize manufacturers from liability.