Oregon appeals court denies I-Flow request for retrial
April 20th, 2010 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
An Oregon Appeals Court denied a request by defendant I-Flow for a new trial in Mulnomah County Circuit Court following a January 22 jury verdict against the pain pump manufacturer. Jurors awarded $5.475 million for damaging the right shoulder of Portland, Oregon, resident Matthew Beale, placing blame on the On-Q Painbuster infusion pain pump device manufactured and marketed by I-Flow.
Matthew was a physically active individual who suffered a minor tear in his right bicep tendon his while throwing a football. Following surgery to repair the tear, Matthew’s condition worsened. Matthew’s surgeon had implanted a pain pump device to deliver pain medication directly into the shoulder joint for up to 72 hours following surgery, following a method that was instructed to surgeons by pain pump manufacturers.
However, the constant drip of anesthetic into the shoulder joint was found to wear down the cartilage in the shoulder joint, resulting in a painful and debilitating condition known as chondrolysis. In November 2009, as more cases of chondrolysis in shoulder joints surfaced, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to health care professionals that it had never approved such use of pain pumps in shoulder surgeries.
Jurors awarded Beale $1.275 million in economic damages and $3 million in non-economic damages. His wife, Krista Beale, was awarded $1.2 million in loss of consortium damages.
Source: The Medical News