Medtronic Class Action Lawsuit Update
February 6, 2009, by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.
Right now, Medtronic lead lawyers are unable to buy a break in this litigation. The MDL court denied plaintiffs' motion to reconsider its summary judgment ruling in quite dismissive language. A sample:
Plaintiffs point to a litany of so-called errors in the Court's January 5, 2009 Order but when distilled to their essence Plaintiffs merely seek to relitigate issues addressed therein. Simply put, Plaintiffs' disappointment with the Order is not a valid basis to move to reconsider.
Ouch. The American Association for Justice's president Les Weisbord has an editorial in the New York Times that provides a solution to all of this:
In early January, the cases of 1,496 people with heart defibrillators attached by defective Medtronic leads were dismissed. The leads have been known to malfunction and send repeated shocks to patients, sometimes for hours. These people may have no legal remedy, while the manufacturer receives complete immunity. While the Obama administration can strengthen the F.D.A., Congress must reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in order to make sure negligent device manufacturers can be held accountable.
This is the best answer, one I'm not sure the MDL judge ruling against Medtronic victims would necessarily oppose. Hopefully, Congress is listening.
