Learned Intermediary Relieves Morcellator Manufacturer of Liability in La. Federal Case

MONROE, La. — A Louisiana federal judge has found in favor of the defendants in a morcellator action, ruling that the learned intermediary claim bars the plaintiffs’ inadequate warnings claim because they did not show that a different warning would have changed the surgeon’s course of treatment.

In an April 3 order, Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana further held that the defective design claim fails because the evidence did not show that a safer alternative design existed.

On Dec. 15, 2014, Audrey Rayford underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy surgery, following which she was …