Kan. Federal Judge Dismisses RICO Lawsuit Against Joint Preservation Device Maker

TOPEKA, Kan. - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing a medical device maker of conspiring to convince a Missouri man to undergo unnecessary joint preservation surgery in order to generate inflated profits, ruling that the claims were inadequately pled.

In a Dec. 17 order, Judge Holly Teeter of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ruled that the plaintiff failed to sufficiently allege that he was defrauded by the alleged scheme.

Charles Luttrell alleges Drs. James K. Brannon and Mauricio Garcia unnecessarily prescribed him pain medications, to which he became addicted and suffered permanent physical damage.