Fraud Claim Should Proceed in M/L Taper Hip Action, Maine Magistrate Judge Says

AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine federal magistrate judge has recommended that a fraud claim proceed in an M/L Taper hip action, finding the plaintiffs have adequately alleged that Zimmer Biomet Inc. was aware the device had a high incidence of fretting and chemical accumulation, yet failed to warn doctors and the public.

In the Nov. 30 order, Magistrate Judge John C. Nivison of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine also refused to dismiss the plaintiffs’ punitive damages claim, finding the plaintiffs adequately alleged that Zimmer’s tortious conduct “was motivated by actual ill will, or was so outrageous …