Ga. Courts Have Jurisdiction Over Japanese Colonoscope Manufacturer, Federal Judge Rules

ATHENS, Ga. — A federal judge has refused to dismiss claims against a Japanese colonoscope manufacturer for lack of personal jurisdiction, ruling that by selling its products to a United States distributor, it should have reasonably expected that it would be subject to jurisdiction in Georgia.

In a Jan. 22 order, Judge Clay Land of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia concluded that the court may exercise jurisdiction over Olympus Medical Systems Corp. under the state’s long-arm statute.

Stephen Collett underwent a routine colonoscopy with Dr. Jeffery Williams in October 2011. The patient who had a …