Federal courts issued rulings on three spine-related lawsuits in the last week:
1. Silver Cross Hospital and Medical Center in New Lenox was cleared of vicarious liability claims over a spine surgeon's alleged negligence in a widower's wrongful death lawsuit.
2. An appellate court on Aug. 9 upheld a preliminary injunction against a medical device distributor accused of stealing trade secrets from its parent company to develop a rival spine device. The injunction relates to Aegis Spine's AccelFix-XT line of expandable cages, which Life Spine alleges are reverse engineered from its ProLift expandable cage.
3. A federal judge in California has denied spinal device company Reliance Medical's attempt to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the company of paying kickbacks to surgeons.