MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A California appeals court ruled this week that a local hospital accused of using experimental Stryker (NYSE:SYK) bone growth proteins on patients without their consent doesn’t have to produce communication records from its investigational research board.
The court ruled that the board is protected by state law from discovery requests, including for a lawsuit in which a patient claims that at least 17 patients were involved in a secret “research project” at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, Calif..
Plaintiff April Cabana sued the hospital, alleging that patients were randomized to receive experimental treatment with Stryker’s OP-1 Putty without their knowledge.
Although the hospital originally claimed that its investigational research board had not granted approval for any experimental procedures, documents produced by Stryker during the course of the lawsuit suggested otherwise, according to the plaintiff’s law firm.
Internal hospital communications from the IRB were deemed protected by the court because the committee included members who weren’t healthcare professionals, according to a Law360.com report.
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