Negligence Claim Tossed in Smith & Nephew Birmingham Hip Action

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge has awarded Smith & Nephew Inc. summary judgment on a negligence per se claim in a case targeting its Birmingham Hip Resurfacing device, ruling that the statute upon which the claim was based was not intended to protect a specific group of people.

In an Oct. 27 order, Judge Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland explained that Section 21-256(6) of the Maryland Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act protects the public at large and cannot serve as the basis for a negligence per se claim.

Phyliss Mosca was …