Source: Pexels/Syed Hasan Mehdi
Litigation is heating up between Stephen S. Burkhart, M.D. and Arthrex, Inc. over a royalties dispute.
Recently retired, Dr. Burkhart is a San Antonio, Texas-based orthopedic surgeon who specialized in arthroscopic shoulder surgery. He is a past president of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and holds numerous patents related to arthroscopic surgical devices and procedures. 
Based in Naples, Florida, Arthrex is a private medical device company. According to its website, Arthrex “has pioneered the field of arthroscopy and develops more than 1,000 innovative products and procedures each year.”
The litigation stems from an ongoing relationship between Dr. Burkhart and Arthrex. In the early 1990s, Dr. Burkhart met Arthrex’s CEO Reinhold Schmieding. According to Dr. Burkhart’s complaint: “For over twenty years since, Dr. Burkhart has exclusively dedicated his expertise and inventions to Arthrex.”
