Howmedica Awarded Summary Judgment in Ore. Spinal Fusion Device Case

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon federal judge awarded Howmedica Osteonics Corp. summary judgment in a lawsuit targeting its AccuLIF TL spinal fusion device, ruling the plaintiff failed to present expert testimony that the collapse of the device’s expandable cage caused his chronic pain.

In an Oct. 17 order, Judge Adrienne Nelson ruled that the opinions of plaintiff’s sole causation expert, his surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, were not backed by a generally accepted methodology. Specifically, Dr. Johnson admitted that he has no experience with an expandable cage collapsing, and that the plaintiff is the only patient of his who experienced that …