5th Circuit Reinstates Knee Replacement Action Against Howmedica

NEW ORLEANS - A plaintiff's cause of action did not accrue when she began to experience pain but rather when her doctor discovered the tentative cause of her injury, a federal appellate court ruled in reinstating a knee replacement suit against Howmedica Osteonics Corp. Brandau v. Howmedica Osteonics Corp., No. 11-50007 (5th Cir.).

In reversing a lower court's dismissal of the action, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 23 ruled that the Texas discovery rule tolled the two-year limitations period because the plaintiff's injury was inherently undiscoverable.

In October 2007, Lynn Brandau underwent a right revision total …