The Missouri Supreme Court on April 6 pushed a knee replacement case involving the University of Missouri back to an appeals court, despite a settlement being reached in March, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports.
The university agreed to a $16.2 million settlement to resolve allegations filed by 22 plaintiffs that related to false advertising and personal injury connected to the Columbia, Mo.-based Mizzou BioJoint Center, operated by orthopedic surgeon James Stannard, MD, and veterinarian James Cook, PhD.
The case has landed back at the Missouri Court of Appeals, which initially cited lack of jurisdiction for not taking the case against the university's board of curators, Dr. Stannard and Dr. Cook, according to the report.
The Supreme Court disagreed with the appeals court's assertion that judgments from the Boone County Circuit Court were not final and could not be argued in the appeals court.
The case centers around a Mizzou BioJoint procedure to treat knee osteoarthritis — osteochondral allograft — which replaces damaged parts of the knee with bone and cartilage from deceased organ donors. The procedure aims to offer an alternative to total knee replacement.
Plaintiffs in the case, who are all former patients, alleged that the procedure was falsely advertised through direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns and that Dr. Stannard didn't inform them of the up to 86 percent failure rate associated with the procedure, according to the report.