A New Jersey state judge won't let Allergan Inc. escape multicounty litigation by patients alleging its Biocell breast implants were defective and caused them to develop a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, finding several claims are not preempted by federal regulation.

Judge Rachelle L. Harz on Tuesday denied in part Allergan's motion to dismiss on preemption grounds a master long-form complaint filed in the litigation, finding that while some variants of the implant and a tissue expander are protected by preemption under the U.S. Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, other claims are based on parallel state law requirements.

In the MCL, the plaintiffs allege the breast implants were defective and caused them to develop, or be at risk of developing, breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.