Dennis Quaid backs drugmaker liability suits

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The FDA, under the Republican George W. Bush administration, has advocated the preemption argument. At the hearing, a senior official said the position had been supported by previous administrations.

"FDA believes that the important decisions it makes about the safety, efficacy and labeling of medical products should not be second-guessed by state courts," said FDA Deputy Commissioner Randall Lutter.

Patients still could sue if companies sold devices that failed to meet FDA conditions of approval, Lutter said.

But Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, called the FDA's current view a "radical legal doctrine" that departed from the agency's previous stances and would be harmful if allowed to stand.

"One of the most powerful incentives for safety - the threat of liability - would vanish," said Waxman, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Waxman has said he will back legislation to reverse the Supreme Court's February ruling, which involved a New York man who was injured when a doctor inflated a Medtronic Inc balloon catheter during an artery-clearing procedure.

A similar case involving drugmaker Wyeth is expected to be heard by the high court in October.

(Editing by Richard Chang)

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