KCIC is excited to be attending and sponsoring the DRI Drug and Medical Device Conference in our home city of Washington, DC this year.  We always find the conference to be rich in informative content with great opportunities and events to network with one another. 

Several important topics to drug and medical device litigation were discussed during Monday’s sessions:

• One of the sessions highlighted the 20^th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project. Personalized medicine has changed the landscape of treatment options for patients, but it has also challenged the scope of drug manufacturers’ duty to warn on the alleged lack of efficacy due to genetics (State ex rel. Shikada v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.). 
• During the young lawyer sessions, a panel discussed the developing litigation climate in Europe and potential implications of the Representative Actions Directive (RAD). While class actions are familiar in the United States, there has been a surge in group litigations in the UK and the European Union. 
• Another session mentioned the proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 16.1, which is anticipated to go into effect on December 1, 2025. The updates would address the early stages of case management in MDLs, encouraging the exchange of information about claims and defenses early in the litigation. 

In the evening after the sessions, KCIC hosted a dinner at Fiola Mare, on the Georgetown waterfront.  Colleagues and friends in the litigation joined for a cocktail hour during the golden hour, followed by a wonderful dinner. It was a great start to the conference, and we are looking forward to the rest of the conference. 

If you are attending, please say hello…and don’t forget to pick up some of our KCIC chocolate bars!