Patients sue maker of medication pumps
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WILMINGTON, Del. - Stryker Corp., a maker of artificial knees and hips, was sued by consumers over claims its pain pumps for delivering medicine after surgeries cause arthritis.
The company, based in Kalamazoo, Mich., actively concealed or misrepresented information about the pumps’ safety and efficacy, Glen and Angela Gore said in one of four complaints filed in federal court in Philadelphia.
The pumps deliver continuous doses of anesthetics to patients for postoperative pain, according to the Stryker website. The medication is delivered via catheter to the surgical wound site or surrounding nerves.
Glen Gore said he underwent shoulder surgery in December 2002. After using Stryker’s pump, he was unable to raise his arm above shoulder level and experienced an almost complete loss of cartilage in the shoulder joint, according to the complaint. He now needs shoulder replacement surgery.
J. Patrick Anderson, a Stryker spokesman, didn’t immediately return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.
