Bernal

Plaintiffs Morris and Rosie Bernal appeal from a judgment for Richard Wolf Medical Instruments Corporation (Wolf) in their action for personal injuries. During Morris’s knee surgery, arthroscopic scissors distributed and warranted by Wolf broke, causing the injury. Plaintiffs’ case was predicated, in part, on a strict products liability theory for an allegedly defectively designed instrument, and on breach of warranty. On appeal, they raise instructional error. We reverse.

I

In March 1980, Wolf sold a pair of arthroscopic scissors to Mercy Hospital. In November 1984, Morris Bernal underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at Mercy. During the surgical procedure, a scissor blade broke off inside the knee joint, “floated away,” and it became imperative to open up the entire knee joint to find it. As a result of the failure of the scissors during surgery, and the subsequent arthrotomy, Bernal developed sympathetic dystrophy. His condition will continue to deteriorate and he will probably require a future total knee replacement. Medical testimony indicated Bernal’s problems were proximately caused by complications arising from the failure of the scissors during surgery.

Bernal…