Danielsen v. Richards Manufacturing Co.

Plaintiff, Dorothy H. Danielsen, brought this action against the defendant, Richards Manufacturing Company, Inc., a supplier of surgical instruments, and others, to recover damages for personal injuries suffered when a 7-inch straight pituitary rongeur, belonging to and used by the plaintiffs surgeon, Dr. Gerald E. Ries, fractured during a partial hemilaminectomy, leaving a portion of the jaw of the instrument embedded in a vertebral disc. The broken part was removed in later surgery also performed by Dr. Ries. It was alleged that the instrument was defective and unnecessarily dangerous when…