O'Connor Acciani & Levy
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Pain pumps were commonly used following shoulder surgeries to administer pain medication to the surgery site. However, these devices have been linked to a debilitating condition called postarthroscopic glenohumeral chondrolysis (PAGCL), which results in progressive decay and destruction of the cartilage in the shoulder joint.
This has led to numerous shoulder pain pump lawsuits filed against the devices’ manufacturers alleging they misled the medical community to use a harmful medical device on unsuspecting patients.
PAGCP is a painful condition that causes long-term pain and debilitation. If you or someone you love developed PAGCP after a shoulder surgery, contact O’Connor, Acciani & Levy’s trusted class action attorneys to schedule a free, no obligation consultation. We will help you determine if you are entitled to compensation through a shoulder pain pump lawsuit for the injuries and losses you have suffered. All of our Cincinnati should pain pump lawyers work on a contingency fee basis and we only get paid if we recover compensation for your claim.
A shoulder pain pump is a medical device used to manage post-operative pain. It uses a catheter to administer pain medication directly to the surgical site for two to three days following surgery. Typically, the catheter is inserted during surgery and is removed by the patient when it is no longer needed.
For many years, shoulder pain pumps were a popular pain management system for patients who had undergone arthroscopic shoulder surgery because they offered an effective way to control a patient’s pain without the adverse side effects of taking prescription medication.
However, several studies have found that shoulder pain pumps can cause PAGCL. In many cases, this results in irreversible cartilage damage that requires shoulder replacement surgery and leads to permanent pain and loss of mobility.
PAGCL is a condition that affects the glenohumeral joint that connects the socket of the shoulder to the ball of the upper arm bone.
The glenohumeral joint is instrumental for the movement of the arm and when affected by PAGCL, the cartilage in the joint begins to deteriorate, resulting in severe pain. Typically, the patient’s arm is no longer able to move properly and the bone and socket begin to rub together as the cartilage deteriorates, which destroys the bone.
In 2007, a study conducted by the American Journal of Sports Medicine discovered that patients who received a shoulder pain pump after arthroscopic surgery were at higher risk of developing PAGCL at a younger age. The study’s researchers discovered that 63 percent of patients who were implanted with a shoulder pain pump developed PAGCL. The study found that overtime, the shoulder pain pump delivered an excessive amount of pain medication, resulting in the bones and joints coming into contact with each other.
Patients diagnosed with PAGCL often suffer long-term pain and discomfort resulting from several symptoms and complications associated with the condition. Often, patients experience stiffness in the shoulder after losing cartilage in the glenohumeral joint.
In serious cases, the affected arm becomes immovable as a result of the stiffness and pain of moving the arm at the shoulder joint. If the patient’s arm becomes immovable, the only treatment available to correct the condition is shoulder replacement surgery.
Furthermore, patients who suffer PAGCL often report a clicking, popping or grinding sound when the affected shoulder is in motion. These noises often indicate the arm bone and the shoulder socket are rubbing together because the cartilage between them has deteriorated. The sensation from bone-on-bone rubbing is often pain and occurs when the affected arm is in motion or at rest.
Generally, the symptoms of PAGCL appear several months or years after the patient received a shoulder pain pump following arthroscopic surgery. If you or someone you love has experienced severe pain after receiving a shoulder pain pump, do not hesitate to seek medical attention. Then, contact our trusted class action attorneys to discuss filing a shoulder pain pump lawsuit against the product’s manufacturer.
There have been several different devices included in shoulder pain pump lawsuits, some of which include:
Manufacturers have an obligation to produce safe and reliable products that are marketed for their intended use. When a manufacturer misleadingly markets a medical device, it can be held liable for its negligence.
If you or someone you love has experienced severe pain and discomfort after receiving a shoulder pain pump following arthroscopic surgery, you may be entitled to file a shoulder pain pump lawsuit. Contact our shoulder pain pump attorneys in Cincinnati as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.
Although pain pumps are commonly used to manage and administer anesthesia and pain medication in patients after arthroscopic surgery, the devices have never been officially approved for this type of treatment.
In 1998, pain pump manufacturer McKinley Medical sought approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to label its pain pumps safe for joint insertion. However, the FDA denied the company’s request when it deemed this method to be unsafe.
Nevertheless, pain pump manufacturers continued to market these devices as safe to implant patients after arthroscopic surgery.
In November 2009, the FDA reiterated its stance when it issued a safety alert to patients and the medical community clarifying the link between joint infusions of local anesthetics by pain pumps and PAGCL.
The FDA’s alert noted 35 reports from patients who developed PAGCL after receiving the medical device following arthroscopic surgery between 2006 and 2008. The patients reportedly received shoulder pain pumps to administer anesthesia and manage pain-relieving medication, such as:
However, the FDA clarified in its safety alert that the approved drug labels for local anesthetics do not include authorization to use continuous intra-articular postoperative infusions or infusion devices, including pain pumps.
In the safety alert, the FDA states that it had only approved pain pumps to be used to treat soft tissue around the shoulder, not directly to the joint itself. The FDA claimed that it has never approved anesthetics to be administered through a joint infusion device, including pain pumps.
Nevertheless, pain pump manufacturers have repeatedly marketed these devices as safe for postarthroscopic surgery use.
PAGCL is a painful and debilitating condition that can have a serious effect on a person’s quality of life. Often, patients who develop PAGCL after receiving a shoulder pain pump are left suffering immobility in the affected arm and require expensive corrected surgery to fix the condition.
If you developed PAGCL after undergoing shoulder surgery, you may be entitled to file a shoulder pain pump lawsuit to recover compensation for:
Do not hesitate to contact our defective medical device attorneys as soon as possible to discuss your legal options. Our Cincinnati lawyers will thoroughly review the circumstances behind your surgery and shoulder pain to find out if a shoulder pain pump was used on you after arthroscopic surgery.
If you believe your shoulder pain resulted from a pain pump implanted after shoulder surgery, you may be entitled to legal action and compensation.
At O’Connor, Acciani & Levy, our Cincinnati shoulder pain pump lawyers are dedicated to helping victims of defective medical devices obtain the justice and compensation they deserve. We will conduct a full investigation of your claim to find out if your pain and suffering was caused by pain pump-related PAGCL.
Do not hesitate to contact us to schedule a free, no obligation consultation to find out if you are entitled to file a shoulder pain pump lawsuit. Our attorneys only work on a contingency fee basis, which means we do not charge clients upfront legal fees. The only time we require payment is if we recover compensation for your claim.
O'Connor Acciani & Levy
N/aCopyright © 2023 O'Connor, Acciani and Levy. All rights reserved.