Imagine this. You put your trust in modern medicine, in a device designed and built in the heart of America’s “Medical Alley”. It’s implanted in your body, a promise of relief. But then, something goes wrong. The promise breaks. The device fails.
So begins the globetrotting medical nightmare of Craig Dibble. A UK native living in Japan, Dibble found himself flying to Colorado, of all places, to have the faulty device cut out of him. After more tests in Thailand, frustrated and still seeking relief, he decided to go to the source.
He filed a lawsuit in Minnesota, the state where the device’s manufacturer, Torax Medical, Inc., called home.
It seemed logical. You have a problem with a product, you go to the people who made it. But for Torax Medical and its massive parent company, Ethicon, Inc., which is in turn owned by the even more massive Johnson & Johnson, the problem wasn’t the actually faulty device like what one possessing common sense might expect. The problem was where they were being asked to answer for it.
The “It’s-Not-Convenient-for-Us” Defense
Instead of preparing to defend their product’s safety and effectiveness, the companies reached for a dusty legal tool called forum non conveniens.
It’s a fancy Latin phrase that basically means, “this is an inconvenient place for a trial.” They argued the whole affair should be shipped off to the United Kingdom, pointing out that’s where Dibble’s first surgery took place.
Let’s be real. This wasn’t actually about finding a cozier courtroom. This was just legal jujitsu. It’s a classic corporate strategy to make a lawsuit as difficult, expensive, and exhausting as possible for the person who dared to file it. By trying to move the case across an ocean, they could effectively drain a plaintiff’s resources and will to fight.
The initial court bought it, hook, line, and sinker.
It dismissed Dibble’s case entirely, even refusing his request to add more details about the company’s deep Minnesota roots.
The initial court’s logic was bizarrely simple: anything that happened outside Minnesota—in Colorado, New Jersey, Japan, or Thailand—was a point in the UK’s favor. It was a ruling that effectively made American soil foreign territory in a case against an American company.
A System Tilted Toward the Powerful
This case is a snapshot of a justice system where multinational corporations hold a powerful home-field advantage. They have armies of lawyers and the resources to turn a straightforward product liability claim into a dizzying international legal chess match.
The doctrine of forum non conveniens is supposed to be used only in “exceptional circumstances” to prevent a trial from being truly oppressive or inconvenient.
Yet here, it was wielded as a weapon to simply dodge accountability in the very state where the device was designed, marketed, and manufactured. The company’s argument hinged on making the United States seem like an unreasonable place to sue a U.S. corporation. It’s a bold move, and it almost worked.
Our current system relies on courts to see through these kinds of strategic maneuvers.
The initial dismissal shows how easy it is for a single person’s quest for justice to get lost in the weeds of legal procedure. It’s a chilling reminder that for many, the biggest hurdle isn’t proving they were wronged; it’s just earning the right to be heard in a fair and logical place.
When the Umpire Makes the Right Call
Thankfully, this story ends with twist. A higher court, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, stepped in and cried foul. They looked at the lower court’s decision and said, “Not so fast, bucko.”
In a sharply worded reversal, the appeals court reminded everyone that a company trying to dismiss a case this way has a “heavy burden” to prove it’s necessary. Torax and Ethicon had offered no real evidence, just arguments!
The court called out the flawed logic of treating Dibble’s U.S.-based surgery in Colorado as a reason to ship the case to the UK.
The appeals court sent the case back, ordering the lower court to do its job properly: hold the defendants to their burden of proof and weigh the factors in a way that actually makes sense. Dibble won his appeal. He now gets another chance to make his case in an American court. But he shouldn’t have had to fight this hard just to get to the starting line.
This legal battle underscores a fundamental need. Our courts must serve as vigilant gatekeepers, ensuring that legal doctrines meant to ensure fairness aren’t twisted into tools that help powerful corporations evade responsibility. Justice shouldn’t depend on which country’s courthouse is deemed most “convenient” for the victim. It should be found where the harm has its roots. For Craig Dibble, that’s right here in the United States.
All factual claims in this article are sourced from the public court document Dibble v. Torax Medical, Inc., No. 24-1385 (8th Cir. 2025).
💡 Explore Corporate Misconduct by Category
Corporations harm people every day — from wage theft to pollution. Learn more by exploring key areas of injustice.
- 💀 Product Safety Violations — When companies risk lives for profit.
- 🌿 Environmental Violations — Pollution, ecological collapse, and unchecked greed.
- 💼 Labor Exploitation — Wage theft, worker abuse, and unsafe conditions.
- 🛡️ Data Breaches & Privacy Abuses — Misuse and mishandling of personal information.
- 💵 Financial Fraud & Corruption — Lies, scams, and executive impunity.
