The Injury Lawyer Blog

When Boston Scientific bought Guidant Corp. for $27.5 billion, they also bought the company's faulty defibrillators. Now, Patsy Roberts has filed a wrongful death suit against Boston Scientific alleging that a faulty defibrillator was the cause of her husband, Joseph Roberts', death.

Joseph Roberts received an Implantable Carioverter Defibrillator (ICD) in 2000. His ICD was the Medtronic InSync Sentry with Guidant leads. This was two years before Guidant Corp. claims to have discovered there was a flaw in the defibrillators. In 2005, the same year Guidant officially announced a recall of their defibrillators, Roberts was admitted to the hospital to be upgraded with a Vitality 2 biventricular automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. He died two months later.

The same year Roberts received his upgraded ICD is the year 996 defibrillators were manufactured with another defect. This time, it was under Boston Scientific's lead. It wasn't until April 2007 that Mrs. Roberts discovered the Vitality 2 had been recalled for a defect.

The suit alleges a conspiracy between Guidant and Boston Scientific to hide the fact the defibrillators were defective, which "has caused a number of the devices to short circuit and malfunction." The suit also claims Guidant and Boston Scientific are liable due to the theory of "strict products liability and that the products were defectively designed, manufactured and/or marketed." There are a slew of other allegations in the suit including negligence, fraud, breach of warranty, and violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

Damages sought include loss of consortium, society and affection, funeral and burial expenses, grief, as well as damages for pain, suffering and mental anguish Roberts went through before he died.

If you have been injured or lost a loved one due to a defective defibrillator, please contact an experienced injury lawyer in your area to find out if you may file a claim.