Another Medtronic Lawsuit Filed Over Defective Defibrillator Leads
November 26th, 2007 amy
On November 19, West Virginia resident Ted Carter filed a class action lawsuit against Medtronic on behalf of himself and others affected by the recalled Sprint Fidelis Leads. The suit seeks $5 million for each member of the class based on Medtronic’s alleged negligence, breach of implied warranty of merchandise and medical monitoring.
The West Virginia Record reports, “Carter was a Medtronic defibrillator implanted Dec. 16, 2004, at Monongalia General Hospital in Morgantown. The device implanted was a Sprint Fidelis Lead Model Number 6949581D, which was recalled. According to the suit, the Sprint Fidelis Lead in Carter’s body presents a serious ongoing health risk due to its defective design and manufacture.”
Medtronic recalled its Sprint Fidelis Leads on October 15, 2007, after receiving reports of five deaths associated with the leads fracturing. Some people were shocked to death, while others failed to receive necessary shocks to the heart after the leads malfunctioned. Medtronic was made aware of the problems with their leads as early as January of 2007 but did nothing to rectify the problem. Had they issued a recall even half a year earlier, a good fraction of the 172,000 people implanted with the defective leads in the U.S. could have been implanted with less dangerous leads. Now they wait, like Ted Carter, for the day their defibrillator leads will fracture and potentially kill them rather than save their lives.
