S&N Seeks to Limit Plaintiffs’ Ex Parte Contacts with Surgeons in BHR Hip MDL

BALTIMORE — Smith & Nephew Inc. has asked the judge presiding over the BHR hip implant MDL to limit the scope of contacts between plaintiffs’ surgeons and plaintiffs’ counsel “to prevent ex parte discussions of certain liability issues.”

According to the May 5 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, those issues include theories of failure to warn, misrepresentation, failure to train and corresponding defenses; FDA-approved labeling for the BHR system; and other S&N documents or scientific literature addressing the BHR system.

However, in a May 18 opposition, plaintiffs argue that pursuant to a …