$30 Million Settlement in Boston Scientific Defective Device Case

 Posted on November 03, 2013 in Personal Injury

Faulty defibrillators sold by Boston Scientific subsidiaries Guidant, Guidant Sales, and Cardiac Pacemakers from 2002 to 2005 caused a lawsuit that ended recently with a major settlement between the company and the United States Department of Justice. The faulty machines are just one example of the dangers of defective devices; patients trust these machines and their doctors with their health only to face complications down the road. Mistakes can also happen when doctors fail to use these machines properly, leading to a medical malpractice case. Much of the damage done to patients recently has been brought to light recently by experienced personal injury attorneys. This settlement marks the official end to a fraudulent claims lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the case argued that Guidant was aware of the defects in the devices and continued to sell them anyways. Healthcare facilities around the country purchased these defibrillators to be used with Medicare patients. Boston Scientific has paid more than $500,000 to pay claims related to the defective devices since 2007. The spokesman for Boston Scientific, Ryan Davenport, is hopeful that this was the last set of claims related to the faulty defibrillators. The government alleged that Guidant was aware of the defective Prizm 2 devices as early as April 2002 although the devices continued to be sold to health care facilities. The devices had the potential to short-circuit and administer an electric shock back into the device as opposed to the heart. Multiple malfunctions and patient deaths were reported while these defibrillators were in use and it's expected that nearly 2,000 of the defective devices are actually still in patients today around the world. The government representatives involved were most concerned that it appeared that Guidant took action to hide the problems from the FDA and from consumers once they became aware of it. For thousands of patients, this meant potential safety risk. If you or someone you know has been injured as a result of a medical device implantation or surgery, reach out to an Illinois personal injury lawyer to discuss your case.