GranuFlo Lawsuits Underway, as Bernstein Liebhard LLP Notes Progress in Federal GranuFlo Recall Litigation
New York, New York (PRWEB) October 10, 2013 -- Hundreds of GranuFlo lawsuits (http://www.thegranuflolawsuit.com/) filed in the wake of last year’s recall for GranuFlo and NaturaLyte dialysis drugs are moving forward in courts around the U.S., Bernstein Liebhard LLP reports. According to a Case Management Order issued on October 1st, discovery is now underway in the multidistrict litigation established in U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts for all federally-filed Granuflo recall claims. Among other things, the Order stipulates that the process for selecting cases for the litigation’s first bellwether trials shall begin in January 2014. (In re Fresenius GranuFlo/Naturalyte Dialysate Litigation, MDL No. 2428)
“Our Firm is representing numerous individuals who suffered serious and life-threatening heart injuries related to the GranuFlo recall. We look forward to continued progress in the Granuflo litigation,” says Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing victims of defective drugs and medical devices. The Firm is currently offering free GranuFlo lawsuit evaluations to dialysis patients who suffered cardiac arrest, heart attacks, stroke, sudden cardiac death or other side effects allegedly related to the administration of GranuFlo and NaturaLyte during dialysis treatments.
GranuFlo Recall
GranuFlo and NaturaLyte are dialysate concentrates used to remove toxins from the blood during dialysis treatments. In March 2012, Fresenius Medical Care issued an Urgent Product Notification regarding serious heart problems that could occur due to inappropriate dosing of the drugs. According to a report published by The New York Times in June 2012, doctors were unaware that, compared to rival products, GranuFlo and NaturaLyte contained more of an ingredient the body converts to bicarbonate. As such, certain dosing of the products could result in dangerously elevated levels of bicarbonate in the blood, resulting in metabolic alkalosis, a condition that can cause catastrophic heart problems in dialysis patients.*
In June 2012, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fresenius Medical Care’s Urgent Product Notification a Class I recall status, which indicates that a medical product poses a significant risk of serious injury or death. According to the Times, the FDA also began investigating Fresenius Medical Care shortly after learning that the company had issued a memo in November 2011 to its own clinics that warned of the heart risks associated with GranuFlo and NaturaLyte. The agency is trying to determine if Fresenius violated federal regulations, as it did not issue any sort of warning at that time to thousands of other dialysis clinics outside of its network that also used GranuFlo and NaturaLyte.*
According to court records, all of the lawsuits pending in the federal GranuFlo recall litigation allege that Fresenius Medical Care failed to provide adequate warnings regarding the use of GranuFlo and NaturaLyte, and continued to aggressively market both products after their risks became apparent in order to protect their market share.
Court documents indicate that more than 300 GranuFlo lawsuits are now pending in courts around the country. In addition to more than 220 claims filed in the federal GranuFlo recall litigation, additional dialysis lawsuits against Fresenius Medical Care have been consolidated at the state level in Massachusetts’ Middlesex County Superior Court. (In re Consolidated Fresenius Cases, No. MICV2013-03400-O)
Dialysis patients or their families may be eligible to file a GranuFlo lawsuit if they or their loved one suffered cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke, or sudden cardiac death, within 72 hours of a dialysis treatment with GranuFlo or NaturaLyte. Learn More about contacting a GranuFlo lawyer at Bernstein Liebhard LLP’s website. For additional information, and to arrange for a free case review, please call 800-511-5092.
*nytimes.com/2012/06/15/health/fda-investigates-fresenius-for-failure-to-warn-of-risk.html; New York Times, June 14, 2012
About Bernstein Liebhard LLP
Bernstein Liebhard LLP is a New York-based law firm exclusively representing injured persons in complex individual and class action lawsuits nationwide since 1993, including those who have been harmed by dangerous drugs, defective medical devices and consumer products. The firm has been named by The National Law Journal to the “Plaintiffs’ Hot List,” recognizing the top plaintiffs’ firms in the country, for the past 10 consecutive years.
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800-511-5092
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Contact Information:
Felecia L. Stern, Esq.
Bernstein Liebhard LLP
info(at)consumerinjurylawyers(dot)com
http://www.thegranuflolawsuit.com/
Felecia L. Stern, GranuFlo and NaturaLyte Lawsuit Center, http://www.thegranuflolawsuit.com/, +1 800-511-5092, [email protected]
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