Wis. Federal Judge Sends M-COR Hip Case to Trial on Defective Design Claim

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A jury must decide whether a hip implant distributed by Plus Orthopaedics LLC was defective because there is conflicting expert testimony as to whether the device was not properly designed to handle the loads it would bear over a lifetime of use, a Wisconsin federal judge has ruled.

However, in the Oct. 24 order, Judge J.P. Stadtmueller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin dismissed the plaintiff’s negligence claim, finding a lack of evidence that the distributor negligently failed to warn patients of the device’s risks.

In 2007, Robert Nielsen was implanted …