Kansas Plaintiff Disputes Biomet’s Claim That Distributor was Fraudulently Joined to Defeat Diversity

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A Kansas plaintiff whose Biomet hip implant case was transferred to the federal multidistrict proceedings in Indiana has asked the MDL court to transfer the action back to Kansas state court based on a lack of diversity.

In her Aug. 30 motion for remand, Plaintiff Rita Demontel disputes Biomet’s assertion that Kansas distributor Biomet Jones & Associates was fraudulently joined to defeat federal jurisdiction, saying the in-state defendant is not immune from suit under the Kansas Product Liability Act because it was aware of or should have been aware of the product defects alleged.

Demontel says …