The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Medtronic can’t be sued by a man who alleged the company’s spinal cord stimulator malfunctioned, according to a document filed March 25.
William Hunt sought damages when he had a Medtronic spinal cord stimulator implanted in 2021 and later experienced a malfunction. He had the device surgically removed in June 2021.
The district court dismissed his claim since he failed to provide evidence that established “Medtronic’s claimed misrepresentation—that he would receive the smart tablet with a software program downloaded onto it that controlled his SCS—had a public impact.” Claims of negligence were also dismissed because Mr. Hunt failed to present expert evidence to establish breach of duty and causation.
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