Client Featured in New York Times Story
Mark Turnidge was like other wearers of the Medtronic Inc. Sprint Fidelis Lead, a heart defibrillation device that was recalled in 2007 over concerns that the product’s slender electrical cable, or lead, had a high rate of fracture.
But last month, when doctors at North Memorial Medical Center went to remove the fractured Fidelis lead in Mark, a vessel was punctured and he died two days later at age 33. He left behind a wife, Wendy, and their two young sons.
Even more tragic, Mark’s death highlights the difficulty that victims of faulty medical devices are now having all over the country in seeking justice from manufacturers. With the cooperation of Minneapolis attorney Fred Pritzker, who represents the Turnidge family, Barry Meier of the New York Times on Friday featured the family in a story about the growing national outrage over a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Riegel v. Medtronic.
Pritzker told the Times he is considering suing Medtronic and the doctors who went to remove the fractured lead. But he said the Supreme Court ruling — which barred patients and survivors from suing the makers of devices that were approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration — makes it likely that a state judge would reject such cases. Pritzker’s firm, PritzkerOlsen Attorneys, already has a number of claims on file on behalf of Sprint Fidelis patients.
The ruling has the affect of leaving patients and survivors legally powerless over spotty oversight by FDA, an agency that has proven incapable of keeping dangerous medical devices off the market.
The Times story said help could be on the way from Congress, where legislation is being prepared to overpower the Supreme Court decision. Democrats Henry Waxman and Frank Pallone Jr. are carrying the issue in the House while Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, have supported a Senate version that could be reintroduced soon.
Most people assume any product approved by the FDA is safe. Wendy Turnidge and many others know this is not true. We ask that you support any efforts to nullify Riegel v. Medtronic. Wendy Turnidge is going to be raising her sons alone. She deserves justice.
Attorney Elliot Olsen Speaks at Conference about Preemption and the Future of Medical Device Litigation
Attorney Elliot Olsen recently spoke at the Seventh Annual LifeScience Alley Conference in Minneapolis on Preemption and the Future of Medical Device Litigation. He appeared with Randall Pattee of Lindquist and Vennum and Jean Lance, VP of corporate legal and general counsel for Boston Scientific. Topics included the following:
- What does the future hold for mass-tort, defective design and failure-to-warn claims against device manurfacturers?
- What claims survived the Supreme Court’s decision in Riegel v. Medtronic?
- What new defenses do device manufacturers have?
Elliot Olsen has significant experience with medical device litigation. To contact Elliot, please call 1-888-377-8900 or submit our contact form.
