Federal Judge Remands Calif. Pinnacle Case Against DePuy, Schmalzried

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge has rejected assertions that an in-state surgeon and hip implant co-designer was fraudulently joined and remanded a DePuy Pinnacle hip implant case to state court for lack of jurisdiction. Sharp v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., et al., No. CV 12-5897 (C.D. Calif.).

Judge Percy Anderson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California also found no basis for DePuy Orthopaedic’s assertion that Louisiana law would apply to the litigation to defeat claims brought by plaintiff Edgar Sharp against co-defendant Thomas P. Schmalzried, M.D.

Sharp, a Louisiana resident, filed his action June …