Ala. Federal Judge Says Plaintiff’s Failure to Timely Serve DePuy Proves Fatal to Her Action

SELMA, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge has awarded DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. summary judgment in a Prodigy hip replacement system action, ruling that the plaintiff did not commence the action within the applicable statute of limitations period because she failed to timely serve the complaint.

On May 13, Judge Kristi K. DuBose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama rejected the plaintiff’s argument that DePuy’s participation in communication and pre-discovery constituted an assent to an agreement to withhold service.

In March 2013, Maeola Goldthrip underwent left total hip arthroplasty with the Depuy Prodigy total hip system …