Jenner's firm is investigating hundreds of potential claims nation-wide involving shoulder damage caused by an unapproved use of the anesthetic infusion devices, otherwise known as "pain pumps." Jenner was interviewed by Lawyers USA, a national legal newspaper, about those claims. Information can be found at www.medlawlegalteam.com/.

About two dozen plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against pain pump manufacturers. They allege those companies encouraged doctors to insert the pain pump devices directly into shoulder joints after arthroscopic surgery - even though the Food and Drug Administration never approved that technique.

The pain pump delivers the anesthetic to the joint as it was intended to do, Jenner told Lawyers USA. "It's how the pump is being used with the catheter being inserted in the joint space" that is the problem here. The manufacturers of the pumps and the anesthetics never tested the devices for the safe and appropriate placement of the catheter, he said.

The plaintiffs allege the use of the pain pumps in that fashion caused Postarthroscopic Glenohumeral Chondrolysis (PAGCL), a painful and debilitating condition in which the shoulder cartilage deteriorates. Many of the plaintiffs have had or will have to undergo shoulder replacements due to destroyed cartilage.

The debilitating condition, and its association with anesthetic infusion devices, received national attention in October 2007, when the American Journal of Sports Medicine reported on a strong link between the use of pain pumps and irreversible damage to the shoulder cartilage. Since that time, multiple additional articles have been published in the peer-reviewed literature demonstrating a conclusive link between the use of pain pumps and chondrolysis.

So far, 16 individual lawsuits and one class action have been filed in federal courts. Those cases are pending in several states, including Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, Oregon and Utah. Another dozen lawsuits are pending in state courts. The first of those is scheduled for a Sept. 22 trial in Portland, Oregon, Jenner said.

"It is believed that there are hundreds, if not thousands of similar cases being investigated," according to the Janet, Jenner & Suggs Website.

The plaintiffs' complaints allege that the makers failed to test the devices adequately and failed to warn physicians about the dangers of inserting the pain pump device directly into the shoulder joint. The plaintiffs also allege that the manufacturers marketed the pain pumps for an "off-label" use.

Jenner is one of the plaintiffs' lawyers in Meharg, et al. v. I-Flow Corporation, et al., S.D. (Ind. Division), No. 1:08-cv-00184-DFH-TAB and McDaniel, et al. v. I-Flow Corporation, et al., D. Minn., No. 0:08-cv-00399-JRT-FLN.

Jenner and several other plaintiffs' lawyers filed a request on May 15 with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to have federal claims consolidated in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon. Other petitions have been filed supportive of the Oregon claims, and offering alternative recommendations. One such firm was the Indianapolis law firm of Cohen & Malad, LLC, a law firm specializing in mass torts and class actions.

The plaintiffs have named several pain pump manufacturers in their product liability suits: Stryker Corp. in Kalamazoo, Mich.; I-Flow Corp. in Lake Forest, Calif.; and DJO in San Diego, Calif. AstraZeneca, the maker of anesthetics used in the pain pumps, has also been sued.

About PAGCL Claims

Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC has established a registry for victims of shoulder pain pumps to document their injuries and illnesses. If patients have undergone surgery in which they received a pain pump and are concerned that they have developed PAGCL, they can go to www.pain-pump-lawsuits.com and register their complaints or injuries.

If you believe that you or a loved one has developed PAGCL as a result of receiving a pain pump and want to discuss your rights, please contact Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC (Robert K. Jenner, Esq. or John J. Cord, Esq.) toll free at 1-888-463-3529 or 1-410-653-3200 or via e-mail at pain-pump@medlawlegalteam.com.

For more information about PAGCL, please visit: http://www.medlawlegalteam.com/pain-pump-lawsuits.html.

About Robert Jenner and Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC

Robert K. Jenner is a member of the MEDLAW Legal Team of Janet, Jenner & Suggs, LLC, a nationally recognized firm based in the Baltimore metropolitan area with offices in Columbia, S.C. and Asheville, N.C. The firm represents victims of medical malpractice, faulty medical devices and pharmaceutical negligence.

As reported in national media such as USA Today, CNN, the Washington Post, the New York Times and Dateline NBC, the firm's lawyers have won substantial legal compensation for patients and victims in nationwide lawsuits.

For more information, visit the firm's Website: http://www.medlawlegalteam.com/