Ariz. Appeals Panel Upholds Summary Judgment to Manufacturer of Epidural Catheter

PHOENIX — An Arizona appellate panel has upheld an award of summary judgment to an epidural catheter maker, ruling that the plaintiff could not rely upon the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur in support of her manufacturing defect claim and failed to show that the device was in a defective condition and unreasonably dangerous.

In an Oct. 27 opinion, the Arizona Court of Appeals, 1st Division, explained that the plaintiff provided no evidence that a catheter does not normally break unless defective, noting that the device’s instructions themselves state that “epidural catheters can be inadvertently separated if excessive force is …