PHILADELPHIA (CN) - The Food and Drug Administration has not taken actions that would prevent a plaintiff from suing the makers of Chicken of the Sea tuna for allegedly gave her mercury poisoning, the 3rd Circuit ruled.
Deborah Fellner claimed that her diet between 1999 and 2004 consisted almost exclusively of Chicken of the Sea tuna, which contains potentially harmful methylmercury. As a result, she allegedly "contracted severe mercury poisoning and suffered extreme physical and emotional injuries."
The trial court ruled that the FDA's regulatory approach to mercury in tuna fish prevented Fellner's claim. Judge Stapleton of the 3rd Circuit disagreed.
"The FDA has promulgated no pertinent legal standard pertaining either to the risks posed by mercury in fish or to warnings for that risk," Stapleton wrote.
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