U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade

Jurors in a bellwether hip implant trial in Dallas will not hear testimony about alleged witness tampering in the case.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Ed Kindkeade of the Northern District of Texas told lawyers in the litigation he would not authorize DePuy sales representative Glenn Swajger or Dr. David Shein to testify before the Dallas jury about a conversation the two had just days before Shein was scheduled to testify in the trial.

The ruling came after Kinkeade questioned a lawyer for defendant DePuy Orthopaedics as well as the company sales representative outside the presence of the jury.