The French manufacturer of the mesh used in Coloplast’s embattled Aris transobturator tape system was dismissed from one of the thousands of personal injury lawsuits filed over pelvic mesh systems.
Plaintiff Kathy Crowell named Analytical Biosurgical Solutions in the lawsuit she filed after her alleged injury from an Aris implantation. The device is designed to correct pelvic organ prolapse or stress urinary incontinence; Coloplast acquired the Aris device when it bought Mentor Corp.’s urology division for $463 million in 2006 (Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) paid $1.07 billion for the rest of Mentor in 2009).
But Judge Joseph Goodwin of the U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia dismissed Analytical Biosurgical Solutions from the case in late July, ruling that the Mountain State court has no jurisdiction over the French company.
"[Analytical Biosurgical Solutions] does not have a United States distributor, but rather, it supplies its product to Coloplast A/S, which independently chooses to market in the United States. [Analytical Biosurgical Solutions]’s representatives do not attend trade shows or conferences in the United States, and there is no evidence that it directed the sales or marketing efforts of the distributor, Coloplast A/S," Goodwin wrote, according to court documents. "Viewing the allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, there are nonetheless no facts indicating that [Analytical Biosurgical Solutions] has targeted Tennessee in particular. The allegations do not suggest anything more than the possibility that [Analytical Biosurgical Solutions]’s products might be sold in Tennessee. Furthermore, there is nothing in the record indicating the extent to which the final products were sold in Tennessee.
"[Analytical Biosurgical Solutions] has not directly shipped any finished product to national retailers with stores in Tennessee. Rather, Coloplast A/S takes delivery of the mesh in France and arranges for it to be shipped at Coloplast A/S’s expense to various other places. Furthermore, [Analytical Biosurgical Solutions] has no input on the sale and marketing of its product after Coloplast A/S takes delivery. Thus, the facts favor a finding that any contacts with Tennessee were a result of [Analytical Biosurgical Solutions] setting its products adrift, which is not enough for this court to exercise personal jurisdiction over it."
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