Tom Packer and Stephen Lawniczak of Gordon & Rees' San Francisco office successfully obtained significant rulings on preemption and disqualification of the plaintiffs' primary expert after three days of pre-trial hearings and testimony in a pharmaceutical liability case in a Northern California trial court. This was only days after the January 24, 2006 Federal Register announcement of the FDA final rule announcing amendments to labeling regulations, and its strong language in support of preemption of state tort law claims. The court also dealt a blow to a plaintiffs' expert who had been extremely critical of the client's dealings with the FDA and publicizing his opinions about the product.