A physician and metal-on-metal hip replacement designer was released from litigation against them and Biomet, now part of Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH), over issues with jurisdiction, according to court documents posted last week.
US Judge Robert Miller Jr. of the US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana South Bend Division dismissed the case against Dr. John Cuckler, and his company Alabama Medical Consultants, after the plaintiff, Ronald McLevis, didn’t appropriately respond to a jurisdictional challenge by a deadline set in late April, according to the court documents.
Though the case was filed in Indiana, the plaintiff claimed that the proper venue for the case was in Minnesota “because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to Plaintiff’s claim occurred in [that] district,” according to court documents.
Dr. Cuckler and his company moved to dismiss the suit for lack of personal jurisdiction, attesting that he and his company were independent contractors that “never consented to jurisdiction outside of Indiana or Florida regarding the plaintiff’s claims,” court documents read.
The motion to dismiss was granted as the plaintiff did not file his response or provide evidence supporting the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the defendants, Judge Miller Jr. wrote.