NEW YORK, July 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm Seeger Weiss LLP, www.seegerweiss.com, announced that it, along with Weitz and Luxenberg, filed a second amended class action complaint against Guidant Corporation (NYSE:GDT) and Guidant Sales Corporation (collectively "Guidant") relating to its manufacturing and sales of defective defibrillators. Seeger Weiss further announced that it has established a presence on www.ZapLife.org, an Internet based Newsletter directed to defibrillator patients, to provide patients with information about their rights and the litigation concerning allegedly defective Guidant, Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and St. Jude (NYSE:STJ) defibrillators.
www.ZapLife.org was started by Jon Duffey after he suffered a heart attack ten years ago while working as a television producer. After his heart attack, Mr. Duffey was implanted with a defibrillator and quickly realized that there should be a place on the Internet where defibrillator patients could exchange information. With that in mind, Mr. Duffey started www.ZapLife.org as a way to facilitate the exchange of information among defibrillator patients. The site now publishes a Newsletter that is distributed to thousands of online subscribers and literally thousands of defibrillator patients visit the site on a regular basis. With regard to the decision to invite Seeger Weiss to help provide information to the www.zaplife.org family, Mr. Duffey said, "It is a pleasure to have Seeger Weiss present on our site. I started www.ZapLife.org as a way to facilitate information exchange among defibrillator patients. The recently announced defects in devices manufactured by the industry's largest manufacturers is troublesome and potentially life threatening to many of our visitors, as reflected by the FDA's classification today of three of the recalls of Guidant devices as Class I Recalls. Our community wants to know their rights and stay up to date on the litigation and by having Seeger Weiss, which is one of the nation's preeminent plaintiff law firms, present on the site, we believe our audience will stay better informed. If you would like to visit our site or become a ZapLife.org Newsletter member, go to www.ZapLife.org." www.ZapLife.org will soon feature a link to Seeger Weiss LLP's website, www.seegerweiss.com, where the community can learn about the litigation.
As to the amended complaint, Seeger Weiss announced that it adds a class claim against Guidant on behalf of patients who are implanted with the devices that were the subject of the Guidant announcement on June 24, 2005. The devices at issue in the class action now 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; Guidant Ventak Prizm AVT, Guidant Vitality AVT and Guidant Renewal AVT (all series numbers); and Contak Renewal 3, Contak Renewal 4, Renewal 3 AVT, Renewal 4 AVT or Renewal RF. For more information, visit www.seegerweiss.com
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 and successful role in many consumer and products liability litigations. 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 against Guidant for review, go to: http://www.seegerweiss.com/misc/IntakeForms.aspx?ID=9&CasesID=62
For information about potential claims against Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), go to: http://www.seegerweiss.com/misc/IntakeForms.aspx?ID=10&CasesID=63
If you have information about the defective defibrillators that you would like to share, go to: http://www.seegerweiss.com/misc/IntakeForms.aspx?ID=2&CasesID=62
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca