Covidien Surgical Stapler Case Proceeds in Mass. Federal Court

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge has allowed a lawsuit targeting Covidien’s surgical stapler handle to proceed, ruling the plaintiff has adequately alleged the device was defectively manufactured and that the company failed to adequately warn her surgeon of the risk of malfunction.

In an Aug. 18 order, Judge Richard G. Stearns of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts also granted the plaintiff leave to plead a reasonable alternative design for the stapler handle, as required for a design defect claim.

During a May 9, 2019, procedure to repair Tracy Hunt’s laparoscopic hiatal hernia, surgeons used a …