June 13, 2013 — In the month since a federal panel of judges decided to centralize all Granuflo and Naturalyte lawsuits into a Multi-District Litigation (MDL), nearly 200 lawsuits have been filed. The litigation continues to grow as more people come forward to report injuries, including heart attack, cardiac arrest, irregular heart rhythm, and sudden death. The MDL has been established in a district court in Massachusetts before Judge Douglas R. Woodlock, In re: Fresenius GranuFlo / NaturaLyte Dialysate Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2428.
Although an MDL is similar to a class action because a lot of lawsuits are brought together in one court, the biggest difference is that individual claims remain independent instead of being consolidated into one claim.
The lawsuits were centralized in the MDL because they all ask similar legal questions and involve similar injuries and allegations. Fresenius, the company that manufactures and markets GranuFlo and NaturaLyte is accused of withholding risk information concerning overdoses.
In November 2011, Fresenius sent an internal memo to their doctors after realizing that 941 people died at their clinics in 2010. The company found that patients who were given improper doses of GranuFlo and NaturaLyte were 6- to 8-times more likely to suffer cardiopulmonary arrest.
The memo was not disclosed publicly or to doctors outside Fresenius. Instead, the New York Times reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was given a leaked copy of the memo in March 2012. Soon after confronting Fresenius, they required a Class 1 recall of the products.
The lawsuits allege that GranuFlo and NaturaLyte are “defective” and “unreasonably dangerous” because of complications, including cardiopulmonary arrest, heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, and sudden death. Many victims have been severely injured or killed during dialysis or up to 48 hours afterward.
Do I have a GranuFlo and NaturaLyte Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting GranuFlo and NaturaLyte induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by heart problems during dialysis, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Drug Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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