Sunday, May 3, 2015

LOS ANGELES: Lawsuit against Mogen clamp maker

And about time too!


Law 360
April 22, 2015

Circumcision Clamp Makers Sued Over Amputated Penis

by Y. Peter Kang
Los Angeles (April 22, 2015, 4:00 PM ET) -- Companies associated with the production of a clamp used in performing circumcisions were hit with a product liability suit in Pennsylvania state court on Wednesday alleging that the medical instrument's poor design led to the amputation of the tip of an infant's penis.

California resident Victoria Hoekstra, the mother of a minor child, filed the suit against Misdom-Frank Corp. and related entities Sklar Corp. and Medco Group Inc., accusing the Pennsylvania-based companies of negligence and product liability in connection with the partial amputation of her week-old infant's penis in 2010 in what was supposed to be a routine circumcision procedure, according to the complaint.

Hoekstra says that the companies' product, known as a Mogen clamp, has a design defect that does not provide any protection for the head of the penis, unlike other circumcision clamps, and contains a second defect that does not allow for the doctor to be able to visualize the head of the penis when applying the scalpel to the foreskin.

These design defects "are well known and have long been identified and published in medical literature," according to the complaint.

"The Mogen clamp, unlike other circumcision devices, has a long history of penile amputations," Hoekstra alleges. "Defendants have misrepresented the efficacy and safety of their Mogen clamp through various means and media, actively and intentionally misleading the medical community, patients and the public at large."

[The Mogen Company went out of business in 2012 after losing two lawsuits to the value of $18.3 million. A subsequent suit was worth $4.6 million.]

Hoekstra says that her son has sustained permanent injury and will require future corrective surgeries and brings claims for strict liability, negligence and breach of warranty against the companies, seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

An attorney for the plaintiff told Law360 on Wednesday that the clamp should be pulled from the market.

"Circumcision is an ancient ritual that has been performed safely for centuries without incident [BS!]," said co-lead counsel Daniel Balaban of Los Angeles-based Balaban & Spielberger. "This case is about a defective product that has left our client mutilated and maimed. This dangerous device should be pulled off the market or fixed before another infant is harmed."

...

--Editing by Stephen Berg.

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