Pain pump manufacturers named in lawsuit

January 14th, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey

A filed filed against AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Stryker Corp. claims the companies distributed defective pain pumps even after learning the pumps had destroyed shoulder cartilage and the FDA had repeatedly rejected the products, according to Courthouse News Service. The also names Hospira Inc. and Abbott Labs, saying the two companies encouraged the pain pump manufacturers to use their anesthetic drugs in conjunction with the pumps even though the medications had not been properly tested.

Post-operative pain pumps are a pain-management system that deliver medication directly to the surgical wound. The pumps came under fire recently after The American Journal of Sports Medicine linked intra-articular (or post-operative) to cases of Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis, a progressive degeneration of the cartilage in the shoulder resulting in pain and loss of motion. is a chronic condition that often requires surgery.

Until the 1990s, the pumps delivered medication at a limited flow rate. In the late 1990s, manufacturers increased the amount of anesthetic used in the . The contends that continuous injection of the high-volume anesthetics into the shoulder can cause serious and permanent damage to the joint cartilage in the shoulder. The also claims the pumps were marketed without first doing studies to determine the safety of the high-volume or what damage could have occurred, instead encouraging use of both the with the high doses of anesthetics.

“The plaintiffs are demanding compensatory damages for fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty,” according to the report.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 10:46 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • becky
    I had knee surgery in December of 2007...I had a pain pump inserted during the surgery. Since then I have had terrible pain in my knee. Recently I went back to the doctor and had another MRI completed. At that time they found that the menicus has shrank. The doctor has given me other injections since then and I am wondering if the pain pump medicine caused the shrinking of the menicus and other problems I am now having.
  • Dear Becky,

    Thank you for your comments. We appreciate your taking the time to share
    your experience with others. Please talk with your doctor about how the
    pain pump was used in your case. He or she may be able to provide some
    insight about whether or not this may be the cause of your continued
    pain. We wish you the best with your treatment and hope that you may
    find relief soon.


    Sincerely,
    Wendi L. Lewis, Beasley Allen
  • Joseph
    No Lisa the little plastic cathether is very smooth. Your lateral meniscus is very dense tissue and can only be torn by excess strain. Either your surgeon missed it during the procedure or it has been injured since your surgery. See a new doc.
  • lisa
    could someone respond to my posting. I really need to know if this pump caused my problem.
  • lisa
    after using a pain pump following knee surgery, I had great difficulty removing the pump since my skin healed over it. I had to pull very hard. My pain has not left my knee and it is almost a year. A follow-up MRI showed a lateral meniscus tear which the surgeon said was not on my previous MRI. That MRI showed a different meniscus tear.Could the removal of the pump be the caused the new meniscus tear?
  • Dear Lisa,

    Thank you for your comment about the pain pump, and your question about
    the injury to your knee. This site mainly deals with the issue of
    cartilege damage as a result of pain pump use, resulting from the
    medication being improperly administered, rather than the type of injury
    you mention in your post. However, if you like, I'll be happy to ask one
    of our attorneys to evaluate your situation and let you know if you may
    have a claim.

    You can email me directly at wendi.lewis@beasleyallen.com, and please
    include a way for our attorney to contact you - phone number, email,
    mailing address - and I'll be happy to forward this to the department
    that is evaluating these types of claims.

    We appreciate your interest and I hope that we'll be able to direct you
    to someone who can answer your questions!

    Sincerely,

    Wendi L. Lewis
    Communications Director
    Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.
    (800) 898-2034
    (334) 269-2343
  • jbmed222
    My husband underwent should surgery and was given a pain pump. He has never had complete restoration to that shoulder and does have some pain and limited ROM. We are not certain what pain pump and meds were used as we do not have a copy of the medical records to date. What can we do at this point?
  • Anita
    I also had a pain pump inserted in my left knee after arthroscopy and have had many problems (pain/swelling) including both knee's replaced since.
    I didn't have a pump with the right knee arthrosope (no probs).
  • Tara Kamm
    Is it true that the first 22 cases are going to trial within a couple weeks? Thanks.

    Tara
  • Vernetta Burks
    My 22 yr. old daughter is in the military and in Oct. of '08 she had knee surgery and she was given the pain pump for 2 days following the surgery, and she's only experiencing pain, she's receiving a medical discharge, what should she do?
  • unclaimed
    I would say go get an MRI asap!
  • Wendi Lewis
    Hello Ms. Burks,

    I am sorry to hear about your daughter's pain after her knee surgery. I wanted to find out if you'd like me to refer this question to our attorneys who evaluate these types of cases? If so, please email me at wendi.lewis@beasleyallen.com to let me know. I'll need to get some additional contact information from you that you probably don't want to post here in this public comment forum. Thank you for commenting!
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