DePuy RP Knee Recipient Says Summary Judgment Was Premature Given Outstanding Discovery

PHILADELPHIA — A Virginia recipient of a DePuy RP knee device says a U.S. district court judge erred in refusing to grant him a continuance for additional discovery before awarding summary judgment to the manufacturer on preemption grounds.

Appellant Michael Smith argues in an Aug. 28 brief filed in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals that the decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey violated Rule 56(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and deprived him of an opportunity to obtain documents relating to his 2009 surgery.

Smith said in his complaint that he …