C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) filed lawsuits against AngioDynamics (NSDQ:ANGO) and Smiths Medical, accusing the pair of trespassing on patents it owns covering catheter access port technology.
The lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court for Utah, accuse AngioDynamics of violating 3 patents for "Access Port Identification Systems and Methods" with its SmartPort line. The suit against Smiths Medical charges it with violating 2 of the patents with its Port-a-Cath and P.A.S. Port Power P.A.C. devices.
Alleging that the infringement is willful and ongoing, Bard wants a jury trial, judgments of infringement and willful infringement, permanent injunctions barring further infringement, damages, interest and legal fees.
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Stryker must face pain pump suit
Stryker Corp. must face a jury trial in a product liability lawsuit brought by 6 patients over one of its pain pumps, a Utah judge ordered Jan. 6.
The lawsuit accuses the company of knowingly selling the pain pump for use with shoulder surgeries, despite allegedly knowing that such an applicatio0n could permanently destroy shoulder cartilage, a condition known as chondrolysis.
Concerns about connections between pain pump use in joints and chondrolysis began surfacing in the late 1990s. In the ensuing years, a series of medical journal pieces detailing problems with the pumps and their propensity to cause chondrolysis appeared. By 2009, the FDA had had enough and warned health care providers that the pumps should not be used “for continuous intra-articular infusion of local anesthetics after orthopedic surgery.”
Stryker had moved to strike the suit, one of literally 100s filed over the pumps, claiming that the plaintiffs couldn’t prove it knew of the problems. Judge Dale Kimball of the U.S. District Court for Utah disagreed, denying the motion.
"Plaintiffs present at least some evidence that Stryker should have known of toxicity concerns associated with the administration of local anesthetics directly into the joint area,” Kimball wrote, according to court documents. “Given the evidence presented, a jury could reasonably conclude that Stryker knew or reasonably should have known at the time it manufactured the pain pump that it was dangerous, was likely to be dangerous, or created a foreseeable risk of harm."
Shareholders sue Cooper over contact lens recalls
A group of shareholders sued the Cooper Cos. (NYSE:COO) and its board over a series of contact lens recalls last year that sent its share price down some 22%.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, accuses the company and its board of downplaying the problems with its CooperVision subsidiary’s Avaira contact lenses ahead of the first August 2011 recall.
Cooper Cos. shares fell from a September 2011 high of $84.20 to less than $57 apiece Nov. 15, when the company disclosed the extent of the problem. COO shares were trading at $69.97 as of about 1:30 p.m. today, down 0.6%.
Lawyer in 3M defamation case claims free speech
An lawyer accused of defaming 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM) is claiming that his statements about a 3M staphylococcus test are protected as free speech.
The case is related to a $1.3 million judgment against 3M over its BacLite test, in which a U.K. judge ruled that the company pulled the test to prevent it from torpedoing sales of its Listerine mouthwash. Read more
Optovue, Carl Zeiss Meditec settle lawsuits
Optovue Inc. said it settled a pair of lawsuits in Massachusetts and Delaware against Carl Zeiss Meditec (ETR:AFX), agreeing to cross-licensing deals for the optical coherence tomography technology covered by the patents. Read more
Lantheus heads north of the border in reactor dispute
Lantheus Medical Imaging can take its quest for documents to Canada in its lawsuit over the shutdown of a Canadian reactor that produced medical imaging isotopes.
Molybdenum-99 is used to produce technetium-99m, a medical radioisotope used in molecular and nuclear diagnostic imaging procedures. Supplies of the parent isotope became scarce after the Chalk River reactor in Canada – which produced a third of the global supply – went offline for 15 months beginning in May 2009.
Lantheus sued Zurich American Insurance Co. in December 2010 to force it to cough up $70 million “all risks” policy. Read more
Stryker unit settles InteliFUSE lawsuit
Stryker (NYSE:SYK) subsidiary MemoMetal Technologies settled a patent infringement lawsuit filed by InteliFUSE Inc. over surgical stapling technology.
Judge Paul Gardephe of the U.S. District Court for Southern New York dismissed the case with prejudice but without costs after learning of the settlement, according to court documents.
Discovery begins in DePuy Pinnacle class action
Discovery is under way in a class action product liability lawsuit over Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant.
The device has been found to shed minute particles of metal as the hip’s ball joint wears on the metal cup. The lawsuits allege that increases the risk of problems and make the implants prone to early failure. Read more