McNally Raymaker and Cumming and REKO has commenced a class action against Medtronic Inc. and Medtronic of Canada Ltd. (collectively, Medtronic) seeking $170,000,000 in damages for negligence and failure to warn as a result of Medtronic's manufacturing and sale of defective implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICDs).
Certain models of Medtronic ICDs are defective, which results in the shorting out of batteries and the inability of the ICD to provide the necessary medical treatment to a patient's heart for which the device was intended. This shorting out of the ICD battery leads to sudden and rapid battery depletion, which can occur within a few hours to a few days, after which there is a total loss of function in the Medtronic ICD. The shorting out occurs with no warning to the patient.
The plaintiffs allege that Medtronic manufactured and sold ICDs when it knew that the batteries for the ICDs could deplete suddenly and without warning, placing the patient in grave danger, including the risk of death.
The Statement of Claim seeks damages on behalf of all persons in Canada implanted with a defective Medtronic ICD that was manufactured between April 2001 and December 2003. The following defective device model numbers are the subject matter of the Claim:
- Marquis VR 7230
- Marquis DR 7274
- Maximo VR 7232
- Maximo DR 7278
- InSync Marquis 7277
- InSync II Marquis 7289
- InSync II Marquis 7279
- InSync III Protect 7285
Commencing in February 2005, Medtronic began issuing notices to patients in receipt of ICDs with the above-noted device models. Patients should contact their physicians for medical advice regarding the potential replacement of their ICDs.
REKO will bring a motion for the certification of this action as a class proceeding. The date of the certification motion will be posted as soon as it is set by the Court.