When Do New Medical Devices Render Old Ones Defective?
This is an important medical device products liability case. The legal issues are framed in terms of defect design and failure to warn, but the real issue in the case is the legal dilemma created when a company introduces a safer product – can the new and old products both exist in the market place, or does the safer product mean that the old product is de facto defective? The technology at issue in this case was IV tubing sets with friction fit couplings, and the new technology was IV tubing sets with Luer-lock connections. The incident occurred in 1991, and the Luer-lock IV sets had been available for about 20 years at that time, according to the evidence in the case. (See the lower court decision for a more detailed discussion of the facts: Hansen v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 309 Ill.App.3d 869, 723 N.E.2d 302 (Ill.App. 1 Dist. 1999)). Plaintiff was admitted to the hospital for stomach ulcer surgery, and had a central venous line started to allow infusion of blood and other fluids as
