Sales Representative May Have Had Duty to Warn Implanting Surgeon of Risks, La. Federal Judge Rules

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge has allowed plaintiffs in a Medtronic titanium implant action to add the company’s sales representative as a defendant, finding the representative may have had a duty to warn the implanting surgeon of the device's risks.

In a March 21 order, Judge Nannette Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana also granted plaintiffs’ motion to remand the action, noting the addition of the nondiverse sales representative as a defendant destroys diversity.

James Wells underwent an anterior cervical spine surgery at the Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans on May …