NEW YORK, June 22, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm Seeger Weiss LLP, www.seegerweiss.com, announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit against Guidant Corporation (NYSE:GDT) and Guidant Sales Corporation ("Guidant") relating to its manufacturing and sales of defective defibrillators and is investigating claims against Medtronic, Inc (NYSE:MDT) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Medtronic USA, Inc. (collectively "Medtronic") and is considering filing a class action lawsuit against Medtronic relating to its manufacturing and sales of potentially life-threatening defects in approximately 87,000 implantable cardioverter defibrillators ("ICDs") and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator ("CRT-Ds"), which are surgically-implanted devices that essentially monitor heart rhythm and shock or pace the heart into normal rhythm when patients suffer rapid, life-threatening heart rhythm disturbances that can lead to cardiac arrest.
Seeger Weiss LLP is investigating the claims and considering filing a class action lawsuit against Medtronic as a broader effort to force medical device companies to fully and promptly disclose the risks of their devices to consumers and to provide injured consumers compensation for their injuries, education about the defective devices and medical alternatives, funds to monitor implanted defective devices that are too risky to be removed and, where medically appropriate, compensation for removal and replacement of the devices. Seeger Weiss's actions are prompted by recent events in the industry, including announcements in February and May 2005 by two of the World's leading heart-related medical device manufacturers, Medtronic and Guidant Corporation, Inc., that they manufactured and distributed defective ICD and CRT-Ds. In each instance, the devices have been implanted in patients for months, if not years, before the companies notified patients of the defects and, in the case of Guidant, the company has allegedly admitted that it knew about defects in some devices as early as 2002, yet failed to disclose those defects to consumers until May 2005. The Guidant defects came to light only after a 21 year old college student died when his Guidant device failed. Perhaps just as alarming, since the student's death, it has come to light that Guidant allegedly continued to distribute one model of its allegedly defective ICD after the company knew of the defect and had repaired it in newer models. Chris Seeger said, "If this allegation proves true, Guidant's decision to continue to sell the devices can be described as nothing short of a coldly calculated decision to put company profits ahead of public safety; that decision and the failures of Guidant and Medtronic generally have rattled the public's confidence in ICD and CRT-D devices and raises serious doubt as to whether these companies are willing to meet their legal and ethical obligations to fully inform their patients about problems with their devices." In light of this particularly egregious conduct and in an effort to give voices to consumers who have been injured as a result of these defective products, Seeger Weiss is investigating and intends to file both individual and class action lawsuits against the companies.
The problems in the industry began to unfold in February 2005 when Medtronic notified doctors for the first time of a defect in approximately 87,000 ICDs and CRT-Ds that were manufactured between April 2001 and December 2003(a) that may cause the defibrillators to short out, deplete the battery, and result in the defibrillators not working without prior warning. If the devices fail when needed, the risk to the patient is potentially life threatening. The batteries that operate ICDs and CRT-Ds are contained in the implanted device and, therefore, to eliminate the potential defect, the device would have to be surgically removed from the patient and replaced. According to Medtronic, over 87,000 of the devices have been distributed worldwide and approximately 65,000 of the defibrillators were implanted in patients in the United States. To date, Medtronic has not recalled the devices and has offered only limited and inadequate compensation to patients who have had the devices replaced.
On April 16, 2004, Medtronic further announced that it was recalling two heart defibrillators, the Micro Jewell II Model 7223 Cx and the GEM DR Model 7271 ICDS, because they were linked to at least four deaths and one injury. Similar to the ICDs and CRT-Ds at issue in the February announcement, Medtronic said that some of these defibrillators have failed to charge properly, which can result in the late delivery or non-delivery of cardiac shock therapy. The FDA has classified this recall as a Class I recall, which means that the FDA believes there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death. Medtronic said that most of these devices were implanted in 1997 and 1998. About 1,800 are believed to still be in use.
Seeger Weiss, along with co-counsel, has already taken action on behalf of Guidant ICD and CRT-D patients by filing a medical monitoring program and fund class action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of thousands of patients who were implanted with defective Guidant defibrillators. (http://www.seegerweiss.com/cases/Cases.aspx?ID=62). Seeger Weiss and co-counsel originally filed the class action on June 10, 2005 and today they intend to file an Amended Complaint adding additional ICDs and CRT-Ds manufactured by Guidant that were the subject of disclosures and/or recalls by Guidant on June 17, 2005. The devices at issue in the Guidant class action include the Guidant Ventak Prizm 2 DR, Model 1861 ICD manufactured prior to November 2002; the Guidant Contak Renewal, Model H135 CRT-D and Contak Renewal 2 Model H155 CRT-D manufactured on or before August 26, 2004; and Guidant Ventak Prizm AVT, Guidant Vitality AVT and Guidant Renewal AVT (all series numbers). See "FDA Issues Nationwide Notification of Recall of Certain Guidant Implantable Defibrillators and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Defibrillators" (http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2005/NEW01185.html) for additional information about the FDA's warnings regarding these devices.
Seeger Weiss (www.seegerweiss.com) is a New York based law firm that is active in major complex litigations, including pharmaceutical mass tort and product defect cases pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Seeger Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of injured consumers and has successfully recovered millions of dollars for individual clients and class members. For example, Seeger Weiss currently serves as Court Appointed Co-Lead Counsel in the federal Vioxx Litigation (http://www.seegerweiss.com/cases/Cases.aspx?ID=24) and was one of the lead firms that negotiated the recently announced $700 million settlement of claims on behalf of individuals who were injured as a result of their use of the prescription drug Zyprexa (http://www.seegerweiss.com/cases/Cases.aspx?ID=27)
If you or a family member is using or has used one of the Medtronic or Guidant defibrillators at issue and would like to discuss your rights, or if you have information about the cases that you would like to share with us, please contact us:
Christopher A. Seeger, Esq. http://www.seegerweiss.com/lawfirm/Employee.aspx?ID=19 Eric T. Chaffin, Esq. http://www.seegerweiss.com/lawfirm/Employee.aspx?ID=9 Donald A. Ecklund, Esq. Seeger Weiss LLP One William Street New York, New York 10004 E-Mail: cseeger@seegerweiss.com echaffin@seegerweiss.com decklund@seegerweiss.com Tel: (212) 584-0700 Toll Free: (877) 541-3273 www.seegerweiss.com
To submit a claim for review:
Guidant:
http://www.seegerweiss.com/misc/IntakeForms.aspx?ID=9&CasesID=62
Medtronic:
http://www.seegerweiss.com/misc/IntakeForms.aspx?ID=10&CasesID=63
Case Specific Information:
Guidant: http://www.seegerweiss.com/cases/Cases.aspx?ID=62
Medtronic: http://www.seegerweiss.com/cases/Cases.aspx?ID=63
(a) The models at issue in the February 2005 announcement include the following devices manufactured between April 2001 and December 2003: 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; and Model 7285 InSync III Protect.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.