Settlements Reached in Five Shoulder Pain Pump Cases in Ohio
By Jim Greene
Published on May 23, 2010
A medical pain pump maker has agreed to settle five personal injury lawsuits blaming the device for causing destruction of plaintiffs' shoulder cartilage. The announcement came the same day a federal judge in Ohio refused the defendant's motion to dismiss the cases.
I-Flow Corp., of Lake Forest, Calif., a subsidiary of Kimberley-Clark, agreed to the settlement after trying unsuccessfully to have plaintiffs' expert witnesses excluded from the trial, as well as evidence alleged to show that I-Flow's chief executive officer was warned about the potential for cartilage injury before the pumps were used by the plaintiffs.
Devices Designed to Deliver Steady Supply of Anesthetics
Pain pumps are used to deliver consistent levels of local anesthetic to a surgical site to control pain for the first few days after surgery. The anesthetic is pumped through a small tube into a catheter left in the site for the purpose. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the devices for use in abdominal surgery, such as hysterectomies.
That the FDA did not approve pain pumps for use in joint surgery is pointed out in many of the more than 150 personal injury lawsuits that have been filed against I-Flow and other pain pump makers and the makers of the anesthetics they deliver. The agency has pointed out that the consequences of streaming a steady supply of anesthetics directly to cartilage tissue had not been studied before the use began.
Plaintiffs Claim FDA-ordered Warnings Were Inadequate
Plaintiffs claim that industry efforts to warn patients and medical professionals of the dangers of pain pumps, ordered by the FDA after the agency received reports of cartilage damage, were inadequate.
If you or someone you know has suffered damage to the cartilage in a shoulder or knee joint after using a surgical pain pump, contact an experienced defective products/personal injury attorney. You may be eligible to receive financial compensation for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering caused by the improper use a pain pump.
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