Buckman Company v. Plaintiffs' Legal Committee
Decided February 21, 2001. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 98-1768 · 531 U.S. 341 (2001) · Cited 956 times
Holding
The plaintiffs’ state-law fraud-on-the-FDA claims conflict with, and are therefore impliedly pre-empted by, the FDCA, as amended by the MDA.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 7
- William Hubbs Rehnquist · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- David Hackett Souter
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Sandra Day O'Connor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Concurring · 2
- Clarence Thomas
- John Paul Stevens · filed a concurring opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. · 464 U.S. 238 (1984)
- Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr · 518 U.S. 470 (1996)
- Geier v. American Honda Motor Co. · 529 U.S. 861 (2000)
- Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)
- Boyle v. United Technologies Corp. · 487 U.S. 500 (1988)
- Miree v. DeKalb County · 433 U.S. 25 (1977)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Wyeth v. Levine · 555 U.S. 555 (2009)
- Kansas v. Garcia · 589 U.S. 191 (2020)
- Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting · 563 U.S. 582 (2011)
- Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
- Arizona v. United States · 567 U.S. 387 (2012)
- Altria Group, Inc. v. Good · 555 U.S. 70 (2008)
- Thompson v. Western States Medical Center · 535 U.S. 357 (2002)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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William Hubbs Rehnquist’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2001). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).