Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Attorney Frank Woodson with Beasley Allen Law Firm along with attorneys with partnering firms filed three separate lawsuits in late May and early June 2009, alleging that pain pump devices implanted in the shoulder during and after surgery to repair shoulder injuries were unreasonably and dangerously defective beyond the extent contemplated by ordinary patients.

Plaintiffs in each of the lawsuits, which were filed separately, are Robin and Craig Smith of Oakland County, Michigan; Davis Prickett of Lakeland, Florida; and Jessica Lee of Jacksonville, Florida. Partnering attorneys are Linda Miller Atkinson with Atkinson, Petruska, Kozma & Hart, and Michael Williams of Williams, Love, O’Leary & Powers; and C. Calvin Warriner and Brenda S.Fulmer with Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley.

According to the complaints, Mrs. Smith’s surgeon implanted a Stryker pain pump into her left shoulder joint after each of two surgeries February 18, 2003 and August 13, 2003. Mr. Prickett was implanted with a Stryker pain pump following arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on June 3, 2003. Ms. Lee also used a Stryker pain pump after arthroscopic surgery on her right shoulder on May 13, 2005.

The Stryker pain pump is designed and intended to be used with anesthetics such as Marcaine (bupivacaine) with or without epinephrine for up to 72 hours. On all occasions, the plantiffs allege in their complaints that shoulder pain pumps delivered continuous doses of medication injected directly into the shoulder joint as designed and directed by the defendants, Stryker Corporation and Stryker Sales Corporation. However, usage of the pain pumps in the manner directed by the defendants can cause serious and permanent damage to the cartilage of the shoulder joint. This condition is known as chondrolysis. Chondrolysis is extraordinarily painful, causes narrowing of the joint space and eventually leads to partial or complete loss of cartilage around the joint. There is no known cure for chondrolysis and it will eventually require a total joint replacement.

The lawsuits allege that the defendants did not warn the plaintiffs or their surgeons who used the devices as instructed and directed by the defendants, about the unreasonable risks and dangers of using the pain pump and anesthetic medications in this manner.

Read the Smith complaint.

Read the Prickett complaint.

Read the Lee complaint.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 3:17 pm 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.