DePuy Hip Implant Distributor Was Properly Joined, Judge Rules

CHICAGO - An Illinois federal judge has remanded a DePuy hip implant injury case to state court, ruling that an Illinois sales distributor was not fraudulently joined to defeat diversity jurisdiction. Kopitke v. DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., et al., No. 11-912 (N.D. Ill.).

Judge John W. Darrah of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled March 3 that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged that Premier Orthopaedics Sales Inc. was not "an innocent distributor" under Illinois law.

Kathleen Kopitke claims she suffered permanent injures as a result of the implantation of a DePuy ASR Hip Implant. She sued DePuy …