Recalled Medtronic Sprint Fidelis Defibrillator Leads Spark North Dakota Woman to File Lawsuit
November 28th, 2007 amy
Adding to the list of Medtronic lawsuits, Winnifred Leverson of North Dakota filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Bismarck on Monday. Leverson’s defibrillator is still implanted and hasn’t fractured yet, but she lives in worry of the day it will.
The recalled Sprint Fidelis leads have already been connected to five deaths and many serious injuries. The leads, prone to fracture, have shocked some heart patients to death and killed others by not delivering the necessary shocks when the device malfunctions. Since it’s riskier to remove the recalled leads than to leave them in, heart patients implanted with the defibrillator
Legal documentation filed in the North Dakota case indicates that a suspected 200 North Dakota residents are similarly situated to Leverson. The complaint states Leverson’s individual claim as more than $75,000, with the total matter at hand being valued at a minimum of $5 million.
Leverson’s attorney, Mike Miller of Solberg Stewart Miller & Tjon, told the Associated Press yesterday that, “Living with one of these defibrillators is a bit like living with a ticking time bomb in your chest.”
