NEW YORK, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Two former users of the Sprint Fidelis Cardiac Leads made by Medtronic, Inc., a Minneapolis based medical device maker, commenced suit today for injuries sustained through the implantation of this device. They are suing for their own damages and as representatives of a class of all uses of the device. Suit was filed in the federal court in Minnesota, site of a previous mega suit against Medtronic for an earlier implantable cardiac defibrillator recall.
The two plaintiffs, Leonard Stavish and Kelly Liusi, allege in the complaint that the lead wire portion of the defibrillator was defective, due to cracks that develop in the wire. As a result, users of device either received jolting shocks when it falsely detected that the user needed a jolt from the device, or that the device failed, so that when they actually needed defibrillation they could not get it. The lead is a wire that runs from the device, which is implanted in the chest, down through an artery in the heart.
In Mr. Stavish’s case, he received approximately 47 dangerous jolts even though his heart was not calling for help, as a result of which the device had to be removed and replaced. Unbeknownst to his treating doctors that a defect existed in the wire lead they replaced it with another defective Medtronic lead.
The suits allege that the Sprint Fidelis, which came on the market in 2004, was aware of the fault in the lead but did not issue warnings, and that the lead was defectively designed. It is also alleged that the device violated consumer protection laws in the states where the plaintiffs reside.
Medtronic announced today that it was suspending all sales of its Sprint Fidelis line, and was encouraging persons who had this device in them to see their doctor. The specific model numbers are 6930, 6931, 6948 and 6949. Some 160,000 such devices have been implanted to date.
Counsel for Mr. Stavish, who lives in New York, is Hunter Shkolnik, a partner in the firm of Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, Shkolnik & McCartney LLP, located in New York City. Other firms are co-counsel in the same class action. Mr. Shkolnik is also serving as part of the plaintiffs steering committee for the Medtronic defibrillator cases involving the Marquis family of implantable cardiac defibrillators which are now pending in Minnesota. He states, " I believe that this new Medtronic litigation will follow the pattern of the previous litigation. It is unfortunate that Medtronic did not learn a lesson from it and stop sales much earlier than it did. The medical community published reports about this defect and Medtronic refused to act on it.”
Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, Shkolnik & McCartney LLP is a New York based firm which handles mass tort litigation involving drugs and devices nationwide. for the plaintiffs’ side. Partners in the firm have participated in the management of more than two dozen MDLs, class actions and state court aggregation of cases. They have also written on the subject, including a treatise, and have lectured widely. Members have also acted as chairs of litigation committees involving many products.
CONTACT: Hunter J. Shkolnik, Esq. or Paul D. Rheingold, Esq., both of
Rheingold, Valet, Rheingold, Shkolnik & McCartney LLP, +1-212-684-1880
Web site: http://www.rheingoldlaw.com//
