SAN DIEGO, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — On May 18, 2015, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, upheld a verdict by San Diego jurors who found that medical device manufacturer, NuVasive, Inc., conspired with prominent local neurosurgeon and UCSD professor William Taylor, M.D., to commit fraud against his patient, Brenda Kitrosser.
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In affirming the verdict, Justice Joan K. Irion stated, "[S]ubstantial evidence of a common purpose exists —namely, to convince patients (like Kitrosser) to undergo a surgical procedure that involved the use of a NeuroVision device from which both NuVasive and Taylor could profit. As the following evidence substantiates, the mechanism or vehicle to effect this common purpose was the misrepresentation regarding the NeuroVision device —namely, with the NeuroVision device, nerve safety would be 'ensured.'"
Justice Irion further wrote, "In sum, we have little difficulty concluding that inferences from the direct evidence support the finding that NuVasive and Taylor conspired to misrepresent the ability of NuVasive's NeuroVision device to ensure Kitrosser's nerve safety during the XLIF procedure."
Plaintiff's trial lawyer, Robert Vaage of the Law Offices of Robert Vaage, said, "I am pleased with the decision. Patients need to be aware of these types of relationships between surgeons/physicians and medical device manufacturers before making treatment decisions about their health."
The case is Kitrosser v. NuVasive, Inc., Case No. D064946 in the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, State of California.
The San Diego personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Robert Vaage have provided expert legal representation throughout California to hundreds of people. The firm's areas of practice include personal injury, product liability, wrongful death, elder abuse, medical malpractice, employment discrimination and professional malpractice (legal malpractice). For more information, visit www.vaagelaw.com.
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