Parkinson v. Guidant Corp.
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
315 F. Supp. 2d 741 (2004)
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
Rowan Parkinson (plaintiff) was injured during an angioplasty procedure when a guidewire fractured and required emergency bypass surgery to remove the fractured tip, resulting in Parkinson suffering numerous ongoing health difficulties. Parkinson sued the guidewire’s manufacturer and its parent corporation, Guidant Corp. (Guidant) (defendants), for products liability for improper manufacturing of the guidewire. Parkinson proffered evidence: that the tip separation of a guidewire is not an incident that ordinarily occurs in the absence of negligence; that the tip separation that occurred in Parkinson’s surgery was the only such occurrence in more than 650 such procedures performed by his surgeon; and that the surgeon who performed the angioplasty was not negligent in using the guidewire. Guidant moved for summary judgment and argued that Parkinson was not entitled to a res ipsa loquitur inference because it had evidence: (1) that a tip separation can occur in the absence of negligence; and (2) that there was evidence that the operating surgeon’s negligence in torquing or twisting the wire against resistance caused the guidewire to fracture.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Diamond, J.)
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