Pain pump victims seek justice against manufacturers
October 1st, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
Lawsuits against the manufacturers of shoulder pain pump devices have been filed in state and federal courts across the nation, and some have already been scheduled for trial beginning in 2010. What juries may be surprised to hear is how a device commonly used between 1999 and 2007 to relieve pain following shoulder surgery, has months later resulted in an irreversible, painful and debilitating condition known as chondrolysis.
Pain pump manufacturers, such as I-Flow, Don Joy, Stryker, Moog, and Breg, to name a few, dismiss the claims that their products have caused numerous people harm. But by 2006, physicians and scientists clearly began to see the connection between the shoulder pain pumps and chondrolysis.
At issue was the placement of the pain pump’s catheter directly into the joint space, a use that was promoted by the devices’ manufacturers but not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The constant and steady dripping of anesthetic drugs such as Marcaine, bupivacaine and ropivacaine into the shoulder joint for up to 72 hours after surgery gradually ate away at the cartilage. In most cases, it was months or years before patients began experiencing the serious symptoms of chondrolysis.
There is no cure for chondrolysis, and in some cases shoulder replacement surgery is required. Yet pain pump manufacturers say they are not liable despite aggressively promoting the devices for joint surgeries of the shoulder as well as the knee, ankle and foot.
No lawsuits have yet gone to verdict. Some have reached confidential settlements. But plaintiff victims are focused on 2010 as the year when justice is served.