A Number of St. Jude Medical Defibrillators Lawsuits Filed
St. Jude Medical Defibrillators Failure. Parker Waichman LLP, a national defective medical device law firm, is currently accepted new clients who personally or their loved ones were injured or killed by a defective defibrillator manufactured by St. Jude Medical. The failure of the St. Jude Medical’s defibrillators has endangered hundreds of thousands of people who need to wear a defibrillator to maintain a constant heartbeat. If you, or a loved one, have been adversely affected by defibrillator manufactured by St. Jude Medical, you could be eligible for substantial financial compensation for your loss.
Parker Waichman LLP is Reviewing New Cases Regarding Defective St. Jude Medical Defibrillators Lawsuits
Parker Waichman’s defective medical product attorneys understand the pain, turmoil, and suffering you and your family have experienced because of a faulty St. Jude Medical defibrillator. While receiving a financial settlement cannot make your family whole again, it can ease the burden with which your family was saddled as a result of St. Jude Medical’s failure to produce non-defective medical equipment. Furthermore, aggressively pursuing damages and holding the guilty parties responsible for their actions allows a grieving family an opportunity to experience justice and take comfort knowing that justice was done. Call Parker Waichman LLP today to learn more about your rights.
The Nature of the Problem
St. Jude Medical, a medical device manufacturing company, issued an urgent notice to its customers in late August of 2017 that a problem existed with battery life in its defibrillators. St. Jude Medical is now known as Abbott. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took action shortly after that and issued a Class I recall of the St. Jude Medical line of defibrillators. A Class I recall is the most severe recall issued by the FDA. A Class I recall signifies that the FDA holds the opinion that continued use of the medical device in question could lead to premature death or severe injury. Therefore, the FDA urges people who are using the device to not delay in seeking an immediate consultation with their physician about the potential hazards of the St. Judge Medical defibrillator.
The problem exists in the battery life of the defibrillator. Some batteries began to lose their charge and would lose energy without warning. Some allege, however, that the Lithium batteries used in these devices would “short out” and stop working altogether without warning rather than slowly drawing down as a typical battery would. A defibrillator battery that functions normally would allow a patient three months to replace the battery. The defective batteries sometimes died within 24 hours. As a result, the defibrillator would not work when the patient needs it. The absence of battery power meant that people suffered heart attacks and died as a result of their life-saving defibrillator not working when they needed it the most.
St. Jude knew that the batteries in its line of defibrillators were faulty. In 2016, St. Jude Medical issued information warning its customers that its Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) and its Cardio Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillators (CRT-D) manufactured between January of 2010 and May of 2015 were made with defective batteries. These defective batteries ran out of energy well before they should have. Consequently, St. Jude Medical issued a battery performance alert. The alert is an algorithm that assists physicians with projecting when battery life could be depleted in a patient’s defibrillator.
St. Jude Medical claimed that the likelihood of a particular patient’s defibrillator’s battery life depleting prematurely was remote. However, if an alert sounded, the patient would be instructed to seek medical assistance and have the pacemaker removed immediately. The patient would have another defibrillator installed once the old one was removed
Which Models Were Affected?
According to the FDA website, the following models are in danger of failing due to premature battery life depletion*:
- Fortify VR: Model No(s). CD1231-40, CD1231-40Q
- Fortify ST VR: Model No(s). CD1241-40, CD1241-40Q
- Fortify Assura VR: Model No(s). CD1257-40, CD1257-40Q, CD1357-40C
- Fortify Assura ST VR: Model No(s). CD1263-40, CD1263-40Q, CD1363-40C, CD1363-40Q
- Fortify DR: Model No(s). CD2231-40, CD2231-40Q
- Fortify ST DR: Model No(s). CD2241-40, CD2241-40Q
- Fortify Assura DR: Model No(s). CD2257-40, CD2257-40Q, CD2357-40C, CD2357-40Q
- Fortify Assura ST DR: Model No(s). CD2263-40, CD2363-40C, CD2363-40Q
- Unify: Model No(s). CD3231-40, CD3231-40Q
- Unify Quadra: Model No(s). CD3249-40, CD3249-40Q
- Unify Assura: Model No(s). CD3257-40, CD3357-40C, CD3357-40Q
- Quadra Assura: Model No(s). CD3265-40, CD3265-40Q, CD3365-40C, CD3365-40Q
- Quadra Assura MP: Model No(s). CD3269-40, CD3269-40Q, CD3369-40C
You can also visit St. Jude Medical’s website for more information. The company provides customers top input their device information to see whether their particular device is subject to the recall.
Legal Action Taken Against St. Jude Medical
Third-party insurers have taken legal action against St. Jude Medical and have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking reimbursement for the millions of dollars that insurance companies spent on their customers who suffered from defibrillator defects. The suit alleges that one insurance company spent $9.9 million reimbursing medical professionals for the defective defibrillators. That number could go much higher if the court in which the action was filed permitted a class action to go forward.
The plaintiffs’ counsel alleges that St. Jude Medical concealed the truth about its defective batteries. The lawsuit claims that St. Jude Medical knew about the problems with its lithium batteries for as long as five years before saying something about it.
Additionally, a Canadian woman filed a lawsuit alleging that she suffered constant fainting because of her medical condition relating to the defective batteries. She claimed $800 million in damages.
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Do You Suffer a Serious Health Complication from a Defective St. Jude Medical Defibrillator?
Call Today to Discuss Your Legal Rights
Parker Waichman LLP will evaluate your claim in a free, no-obligation consultation. Contact our firm today to learn how we can start working immediately for you and begin protecting your rights. The time to file a claim is limited and any delay could result in forfeiting your claim forever. Contact Parker Waichman LLP today by filling out our online form or by calling 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529) if you or a family member is a victim of a defective medical device.
*Quoted directly from FDA.gov.
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