OCALA, Fla., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Forizs & Dogali, P.L. announced today that it has filed a class action lawsuit against Medtronic, Inc. , a manufacturer of implantable heart devices. According to the complaint, on February 11, 2005, Medtronic began advising physicians about a potential battery shorting mechanism that may occur in some of its implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D) models. In a letter to physicians, Medtronic reported that some of the ICD and CRT-D batteries had experienced rapid battery depletion due to this shorting action. The company warned doctors that if shorting occurs, battery depletion can take place within a few hours to a few days, after which there is loss of device function.
Medtronic issued a recall of the affected devices in March 2005, and estimates that currently 87,000 people may be affected. Devices with batteries manufactured between April 2001 and December 2003 are subject to the recall and include the following models:
Model 7230 Marquis VR Model 7274 Marquis DR Model 7232 Maximo VR Model 7278 Maximo DR Model 7277 InSync Marquis Model 7289 InSync II Marquis Model 7279 InSync III Marquis Model 7285 InSync III Protect
The class action complaint was filed on Friday, July 15, 2005, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Ocala Division. Forizs & Dogali filed the complaint on behalf of all citizens or residents of the United States who were implanted with a Medtronic Device that is subject to the Recall.
Andy Dogali, attorney for the class plaintiff, said that his firm is seeking compensation for injuries received by those implanted with the defective devices. Dogali said he will also ask the court to implement a medical monitoring program to minimize the increased health risks associated with the defective devices. Medtronic offered patients a new device, but failed to compensate them for the pain and risk of any surgery required to remove and replace the device. Speaking about the patients affected by the recall, Dogali said, “imagine walking around with a defective product in your chest, not knowing if it was going to fail, and not knowing whether you would die because of it. That’s what these people have had to endure.” Dogali said that anyone with a Medtronic implant which may be defective can find further information by calling his firm’s toll free number, (877) 978-0700, or visiting the firm’s web site at http://www.forizs-dogali.com .
FORIZS & DOGALI, P. L., was founded in 1999 as a firm primarily devoted to litigation and bankruptcy practice and now employs 20 attorneys. The firm serves a wide variety of corporate, business and individual clients in a broad range of litigation matters, including large class action, multi-party construction, and insurance disputes, bankruptcy cases, commercial litigation, municipal and civil rights litigation, creditors rights, environmental claims, mechanic’s lien rights, personal injury suits and professional malpractice.
Contact: Andy Dogali (813) 289-0700 adogali@forizs-dogali.com
Forizs & Dogali, P.L.
CONTACT: Andy Dogali, Forizs & Dogali, P.L., +1-813-289-0700, oradogali@forizs-dogali.com
Web site: http://www.forizs-dogali.com/
