Stryker Pain Pump Injury Lawsuit Filed

A Las Vegas woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Stryker Corp. for injuries she claims were caused by the use of a defective pain pump.

Dorothy Vialpando filed her lawsuit on January 8 claiming she was injured following a 2006 orthopedic surgery on her shoulder while using one of the company’s pain pumps to deliver pain killing drugs to the surgical site. The lawsuit claims strict product liability and also accuses Stryker sales representatives of promoting unapproved uses of the products, according to a report in the Las Vegas Business Press.

Vialpando’s lawsuit contends as a result of the company’s negligence in designing and marketing its pain pumps, she has been left with permanent injuries and a lack of mobility.

“Stryker knew or should have known that its pain pumps, when used with aesthetic medications in the joint space, could be toxic to shoulder cartilage,” the court filing states.

Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker Corp. has been named in dozens of similar lawsuits filed by patients across the United States. The use of pain pumps has been linked to cartilage damage and other injuries.

A recent study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found the use of intra-articular pain pump catheters after shoulder surgery can cause permanent cartilage damage. The damage, called postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis, is a devastating injury that can result in substantial pain and significantly limit the use of the shoulder.

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