Stutts, Strosberg, LLP and Rochon Geonva, LLP (both of which are also active in similar litigation against Guidant) are pursuing a $500 million class action lawsuit against medical device manufacturer Medtronic.

On February 10, 2005, Medtronic acknowledged that a potential battery shorting problem may result in rapid battery depletion in certain of its implantable cardiac defibrillators ("ICDs") and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds).

If the battery in the ICD or CRT-D shorts out, the device loses function and cannot deliver the therapy required if the user develops potentially life-threatening arrhythmias. To replace the battery, the device must be surgically removed. Only ICDs and CRT-Ds manufactured between April 2001 and December 2003 are affected. To date, 13,000 people worldwide have had the devices surgically removed...

...The plaintiffs allege that Medtronic implemented battery design changes in December 2003 that corrected the problem, but continued to market and sell existing inventory of ICDs and CRT-Ds and failed to disclose the problem to medical professionals, patients and the regulatory authorities until February, 2005.

The full press release, sure to be emblematic of similar releases from a whole host of firms, can be found here.

-- MDT