Judge Refuses to Certify BHR Hip Preemption Ruling for Interlocutory Appeal

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge has denied Smith & Nephew Inc.’s request to make appealable a ruling that claims relating to the “hybrid” Birmingham Hip Resurfacing-THA and R3-THA hip replacement systems and components are not preempted.

On Nov. 27, Judge Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland held that certifying the ruling for interlocutory appeal would not be proper because it does not present “a controlling question of law which there is a substantial ground for difference of opinion.”

In the Aug. 5 ruling, Judge Blake found that the THA systems and components …