Bellwether Plaintiff’s Motion for New Trial Denied in Federal S&N Hip Case

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge has refused to order a new trial in a Smith & Nephew hip action that resulted in a defense verdict, ruling that the bellwether plaintiff was not unfairly prejudiced by S&N’s expert testimony, jury instructions, or the exclusion of certain evidence.

In a Jan. 18 order, Judge Catherine Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland let stand the jury’s determination that while S&N negligently made false and misleading representations in its marketing of the hip implant device, those representations did not cause the plaintiff’s injuries.

In 2010, North Carolina resident …