One-Year Limit for Removal Does Not Apply to Medical Device Case, Texas Judge Rules

DALLAS — A Texas state judge has refused to remand to state court a medical device suit in which the nondiverse plaintiff has been removed, noting that the one-year time limit for removal only applies “if the case stated by the initial pleading is not removable.”

On April 30, Chief Judge Sidney Fitzwater of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas further ruled that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, therefore federal jurisdiction exists.

In May 2011, Joe Franklin and his wife Sandra sued Codman & Shurtleff Inc., DePuy Inc. and Johnson & Johnson Inc. in Texas …