David Stiles v. Medtronic, Inc. et al

Filing 23

ORDER REASSIGNING CASE. Case reassigned to Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr for all further proceedings. Judge Samuel H. Mays, Jr no longer assigned to case, ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Signed by Judge Samuel H. Mays, Jr on 10/22/2013.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
WESTERN DIVISION

Kathleen Hafer,
Plaintiff,
v.
Medtronic, Inc., and Medtronic
Sofamor Danek USA, Inc.,
Defendants.

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

No. 13–2340

ORDER

Before the Court is the Clerk of Court’s July 29, 2013
Report and Recommendation recommending that the Court transfer
this case and each of its Companion Cases (“Medtronic cases”) to
Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr.
Recommendation, ECF No. 15.)

(the “Report).

(Report and

For the following reasons, the

Report is ADOPTED, and all of the Medtronic cases assigned to
this judge are transferred to Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr.
On January 3, 2013, Medtronic, Inc. and Medtronic Sofamor
Danek USA, Inc. (“Defendants”) removed the first of the
Medtronic cases from Shelby County Circuit Court.
No. 15 at 1.)
Fowlkes, Jr.

(Report, ECF

That case was randomly assigned to Judge John T.
(Id.)

The Medtronic cases involve the same

product (Defendants’ Infuse® Bone Graft device) and similar
claims, and Defendants are represented by the same counsel.
(Id. at 2.)

The Clerk of Court has concluded that the cases

“arise out of or are connected with the same transaction,
condition or occurrence and thus share similar fact patterns and
common legal issues.”

(Id. at 2)

The cases subject to the

Report (including this case) are Hafer v. Medtronic, Inc. et al,
2:13-cv-02340-SHM-dkv, Stiles v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13cv-02341-SHM-dkv, Rowland v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13-cv02343-SHM-dkv, Speer v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13-cv-02344SHM-tmp, Napier v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13-cv-02349-SHMtmp, Detty et al. v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13-cv-02396-SHMdkv, Willis et al. v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13-cv-02433-SHMdkv, Williams v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13-cv-02488-SHM-dkv,
and Martin v. Medtronic, Inc. et al., 2:13-cv-02644-SHM-dkv.
As a matter of judicial economy, these cases “ought to be
processed by one Judge . . . in order to avoid an otherwise
unnecessary multiplicity of trials and pretrial proceedings.”
(Report, ECF No. 15 at 2.)
For the foregoing reasons, the Report is ADOPTED, and each
of the Medtronic cases described above is transferred to Judge
John T. Fowlkes, Jr.
So ordered this 22nd day of October, 2013.

s/_Samuel H. Mays, Jr. _____
SAMUEL H. MAYS, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE