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San Antonio Device Claims: Key Facts Wound Vacs and Trauma Hardware The Learned Intermediary Rule Contact Our San Antonio Office Frequently Asked QuestionsTHE LAW GIANT product liability lawyers:
We Fight for Your Rights
Trauma and surgical patients often leave the hospital with wound vacs, plates, rods or screws. When one of those devices fails, Texas law asks whether the maker properly warned the doctors who chose it.
Call The Law Giant at 956-982-1800 or contact us online for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless we win.
San Antonio Device Claims: Key Facts
- KCI, based in San Antonio, recalled wound therapy canisters in 2017 over a possible sterile barrier breach. The FDA recall record lists 5,385 cases from its Interstate 10 address.
- Brooke Army Medical Center is the only Level I trauma center in the Defense Department. That is according to the U.S. Army.
- A San Antonio appeals court applied the learned intermediary rule to an implant in 1999. The Texas Supreme Court cited that decision, Guzman v. Synthes, in Centocor v. Hamilton (2012).
- Texas product claims generally must be filed within 15 years of the sale. Hardware that fails years after a trauma surgery can run into that limit.
Wound Vacs and Trauma Hardware
Negative-pressure wound therapy uses a pump, tubing and a canister to draw fluid from a wound. Trauma surgeons also rely on plates, rods, screws and external fixators to hold broken bones. Problems include:
- Wound devices that leak, lose suction, fail to alarm or allow contamination.
- Plates and screws that break or loosen before the bone heals.
- Rods that bend or fracture under normal weight.
- Instructions that do not tell surgeons about a known risk.
The Learned Intermediary Rule
Texas lets a maker of a prescription product meet its duty to warn by warning the prescribing doctor instead of the patient. In Centocor, the Texas Supreme Court applied that rule to a drug. It cited a San Antonio decision holding that an implant supplier satisfies its duty by warning the treating physician.
What That Means for Your Claim
- The warning to the surgeon matters: We look at the instructions and safety notices the maker sent to doctors.
- Causation: You generally must show a better warning would have changed the doctor’s decision.
- Other theories: Manufacturing defects do not depend on the warning at all.
Military Patients
Claims against a device maker are separate from any claim against the federal government, which follows different rules.
Contact Our San Antonio Office
Our San Antonio office is at 5826 W Interstate 10, Suite 102. Keep any failed device or hardware that was removed. See our San Antonio product liability, broken bone and dangerous drug pages. For statewide rules, see our Texas defective medical device page.
Call 956-982-1800. You pay nothing unless we win.
Common Questions
San Antonio Medical Device FAQs
My wound vac stopped working and my wound got infected. Is that a device claim?
Possibly. If the device failed because of a defect, the maker may be responsible. Keep the unit, the canisters and any alarm records.
A plate in my leg broke before the bone healed. Can I sue?
Possibly. An engineer can examine the broken plate to tell whether it was defective or overloaded. Keep the hardware if it is removed.
The maker says it warned my surgeon. Does that end my case?
Not necessarily. The warning must be adequate, and manufacturing defects do not depend on the warning at all.
I was treated at a military hospital. Can I still sue the device maker?
Yes. A claim against a private device maker is separate from any claim against the government.
How long do I have after a device injury in San Antonio?
Generally two years from the injury, and product claims must also be filed within 15 years of the sale.
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Our personal injury lawyers handle a wide range of accidents and serious injuries across Texas.
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