The culprit was not the surgery itself but the device used to deliver pain medication to the wound site. Used properly, as approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the pain pumps were hardly dangerous. But pain pump manufacturers began advising surgeons to use the pain pumps differently, by inserting the catheter directly into the shoulder joint space. Over time, the pain medication was toxic to the cartilage, resulting in chondrolysis.

In 2008, a petition was filed for a multidistrict litigation (MDL) to consolidated the lawsuits pending against the manufacturers of pain pumps. MDLs help coordinate the litigation that is pending in federal courts across the country involving the same allegations or same parties. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decides whether cases should be consolidated under MDL and where to transfer the cases. The judicial panel denied the initial petition requesting an MDL. Many more lawsuits have been filed in federal courts across the country and the panel may revisit its initial decision.

“Denial of the MDL  may be a good thing for patients and consumers because there are already cases that are going to trial,” Woodson says. Several of those cases were settled right before or after the opening statement and others were resolved on a confidential basis in early 2009.

“These are substantial injury cases. This is a very severe injury that should not have occurred,” Woodson says. “Most of these people did not know what occurred to them until they started seeing advertisements from lawyers for these cases. So, that’s the first time that they had any inkling in their mind that there could have been a connection between the use of a pain pump and what’s ultimately happened to their shoulder.

“I’d advise (individuals who believe they may have been injured by the pain pump) that people  see an attorney as soon as possible. ”

SOURCE: Pain Pumps › Pain pump makers may be liable for injury after shoulder surgery