› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
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 Beale of Portland, Oregon, routinely participated in football, racquetball and golf, and he enjoyed coaching his son’s baseball teams. But a minor tear in his bicep tendon caused by throwing a football benched the 38-year-old father of four. His doctor recommended routine arthroscopic surgery during which he was prescribed an I-Flow pain pump to deliver pain medication directly to the wound site for up to 72 hours.
However, the anesthetic that dripped from the pain pump into Beale’s shoulder joint killed the cells that create cartilage. Within months, Beale’s cartilage was completely destroyed, causing him so much pain he couldn’t shake his clients’ hands or even pick up his baby without a shockwave of pain. He now faces a complete shoulder replacement that doctors say will likely not permanently resolve his chronic pain or enable him to regain his active lifestyle.
