Miss. Federal Judge Remands Respironics Oxygen Concentrator Case

GREENVILLE, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge has remanded a product liability action involving a deadly fire caused by Respironics Inc.’s oxygen concentrator, ruling that the plaintiff did not join a non-diverse prescribing doctor in bad faith.

In a May 28 order, Judge Debra Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi concluded that the plaintiff did not keep the doctor in the case for the sole purpose of preventing removal during 28 U.S.C. § 1446(c)(1)’s one-year removal time period.

On Feb. 28, 2017, a “flash fire” occurred in Mella Lartheridge’s apartment due to an …