In the lawsuit filed in the Sarasota County Circuit Court, Thomas Fronczak alleged he sustained injuries after being implanted with a DePuy hip. In the complaint, he alleged, that one of the defendants, Bayside Orthopaedics, Inc. (“Bayside”), was strictly liable on the basis that it disseminated literature to the orthopedic community in Florida encouraging the use of the device.

The lawsuit was removed to Federal court in the Middle District of Florida on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. A federal court in the Middle District of Florida had previously held that a plaintiff may state a claim for strict liability against a distributor of hip devices under Florida law on the basis of that a distributor of hip implant devices marketed and promoted the product at issue, it was within the chain of distribution to the doctors and general public, subjecting it to an action in strict liability for any defect in the product under Florida law.

The judge in Mr. Fronczak’s case agreed and found that the plaintiff has stated a claim for strict liability under Florida law. He noted that “merely the possibility that a state court would find that the complaint states a cause of action against any one of the resident Defendants necessities remand.”

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