Calif. Federal Judge Grants Stay and Denies Remand in DePuy Pinnacle Case

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge has granted DePuy Orthopaedics Inc.'s motion to stay a Pinnacle hip implant case pending transfer to the multidistrict proceeding in Texas, saying the issue of fraudulent joinder of an in-state defendant is not unique and can be decided by the MDL court. Brewer, et al. v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. C12-1473 TEH (N.D. Calif.).

In the same May 4 order, Judge Thelton E. Henderson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California also denied plaintiff s' motion for remand without prejudice.

Susan Brewer and her co-plaintiffs, who are …