Whelton Hiutin LLP lawyer Meaghan Coker was recently successful in obtaining an order for the destructive testing of a medical device that failed during surgery. The decision is noteworthy given that it appears to be the first decision in which the Ontario courts have ordered the destructive testing of a medical device. The case concerned a plaintiff who underwent an emergency procedure to remove a stroke-causing blood clot. During the procedure, the device designed to remove the blood clot (the Stryker Trevo XP ProVue Retriever) broke into two pieces, leaving one piece in the plaintiff’s brain while the other piece was removed and preserved. The plaintiff sought to destructively test the preserved piece of the device to analyze the microstructure of the device’s components and determine the reason the device broke. The court found that the plaintiff had shown the necessity of the proposed testing and therefore met the test under Rule 32 to proceed under a protocol set out in the order. A copy of the decision, Logan v. Stryker Canada Corp., 2024 ONSC 6171, can be found here.