La. Federal Judge Refuses to Remand DePuy Knee Action Due to Lack of Viable Claims Against Nondiverse Defendant

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge has refused to remand a DePuy knee replacement case, ruling that the plaintiff failed to allege viable claims against the nondiverse distributor defendant, Mark Starring & Associates Inc.

In an Oct. 14 order, Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana said the evidence does not show that the distributor had actual knowledge that the knee prosthesis and bone cement was defective and, as such, the negligence claims against it fail.

Cynthia Brown sued Johnson & Johnson and DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. in the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District …