A British-based company has lost its legal bid to evade liability for installing a defective hip replacement system into a South African patient, with the Western Cape High Court ruling the court had jurisdiction because the company provided the service within this country through its agents.
Chanine Swanepoel instituted a damages claim against DePuy International Ltd (DIL) after a hip-replacement procedure at Mediclinic Constantiaberg in 2010. Shortly afterwards, DIL recalled the prosthesis.
Four months later, blood samples revealed that Swanepoel had a high level of microscopic metal particles in her hip and she subsequently underwent two further surgeries.
She blamed DIL for the consequences of manufacturing a defective system and requested the court to order that they pay for damages, interest and legal costs, reports TimesLIVE.
But DePuy had filed a special plea, saying the court did not have jurisdiction over them as they were a foreign-based company that was registered abroad.
The court decided to separate the special plea from the main application.
Judge Derek Wille said DIL appointed local lawyers to correspond with patents and even paid a small amount of compensation – albeit without admitting liability. “The entire recall implementation took place in this country,” Wille said, and “given the peculiar facts”, the common law should be developed insofar as monetary claims against DIL are concerned.
Netwerk24 reports that the special plea was dismissed with costs.
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