Ind. Federal Magistrate Judge Recommends Remand of Ethicon Surgicel Case

HAMMOND, Ind. — An Indiana federal magistrate judge has recommended that an action involving Ethicon’s Surgicel Absorbable Hemostate be remanded to state court, rejecting the manufacturer’s argument that the fraudulent misjoinder doctrine applies to the medical malpractice claims against anonymous healthcare provider defendants.

In a Dec. 12 order, Magistrate Judge Joshua P. Kolar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana further found that the malpractice claims should not be severed and remanded.

According to the complaint, on March 6, 2020, Michael Welborn underwent a thoracotomy, lower lobectomy, and mediastinal lymph node dissection on his right lung, …