Covidien Surgical Stapler Case Heads to Trial in Ariz. Federal Court

PHOENIX — An action targeting Covidien Holding Inc.’s single-use surgical stapler was sent to trial after an Arizona federal judge found the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence that the stapler could have been delivered to surgeons without staplers.

On April 14, Judge Steven P. Logan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona denied Covidien’s motion for summary judgment on a strict liability manufacturing defect claim, ruling the plaintiff presented “circumstantial evidence from which it could be inferred that the stapler lacked staples and therefore had a manufacture defect.”

Anthony Canning underwent a robotic total gastrectomy at the …