Two Suits Over Failed Cochlear Implants Must Be Tried Separately to Avoid Prejudice

Two suits involving cochlear implant hearing devices that were manufactured at different times and failed allegedly for different reasons must be tried separately to avoid prejudice to manufacturer Advanced Bionics Corp., a federal trial court in Tennessee ruled March 31 (Johnson v. Advanced Bionics LLC, W.D. Tenn., 2:08-cv-02376-JPM-cgc, 4/4/11).

The risk of confusion and prejudice to Advanced Bionics outweighs the judicial economy and expense saved by a joint trial, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee said. Although consolidating the suits for discovery and pretrial matters was an efficient use of resources, separate trials ...