From the Stryker Hip-Implant lawsuit comes the news that 3 plaintiffs had put forth a motion to remand three claims to the Massachusetts state court. All three claims were against Surgi-Care, a Massachusetts distributor of the Stryker hip components, wherein the plaintiffs suffered hip replacement complications following implantation of Stryker's Accolade TMZF Hip Stem and LFIT Anatomic V40 Femoral Head. The manufacturer, however, argued that since Surgi-care had no power to make any changes to the design, labeling, or packaging of the LFIT V40 Femoral Heads, the plaintiffs were barred from pursuing claims against Surgi-Care; hence, it could be removed on a pre-emption basis. The plaintiffs, on the other hand, are confident that the defendant's theory for removal is baseless and does not apply to lawsuits that involve devices cleared via the FDA's 510(k) program, which was the case with LFIT V40 Femoral Heads.
