February 1, 2013 — A man from Louisiana has filed a lawsuit after he suffered life-threatening dialysis injuries at a Fresenius dialysis clinic located in Ferriday, Louisiana. The man, Ronnie Glasper, was treated with the Fresenius products GranuFlo and Naturalyte, which were added to his blood to balance acidity. Unfortunately, improper doses of GranuFlo and Naturalyte are associated with a substantial risk of heart problems. Glasper suffered a heart attack, stroke, and severe pain.
Glasper filed the lawsuit on January 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. His lawsuit is not alone — at least 37 other, similar lawsuits are pending against Fresenius in several U.S. District Courts. A federal judicial panel is currently deliberating whether to centralize the litigation in one federal court.
The litigation is likely to grow to involve several hundred lawsuits. When the FDA recalled GranuFlo and Naturalyte in 2012, they warned that hundreds of deaths were linked to the products. According to an internal memo Fresenius sent in November 2011, there were 941 deaths at Fresenius clinics in 2010. Many of these deaths were attributed to bicarbonate overdoses that may have been linked to improper doses of GranuFlo and Naturalyte.
All of the lawsuits against Fresenius allege that the company did not adequately warn about the risk of dosing errors. The internal memo was written in November 2011 and based on data from 2010, but it was not disclosed to the FDA or non-Fresenius doctors until March 2012.
Glasper’s GranuFlo lawsuit alleges that Fresenius failed to adequately warn about the following GranuFlo and NaturaLyte side effects:
- Death
- Cardiac arrest
- Chemical imbalances in the bloodstream, including:
- Metabolic alkalosis (pH of the blood above 7.35-7.45)
- Hypokalemia (low potassium)
- Hypoxemia (low oxygen)
- Hypercapnia (high carbon dioxide)
- Irregular heart rhythm
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- And more
Do I have a Dialysis Injury 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 a dialysis heart attack, stroke, or other severe side effect, 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.
Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC has been recognized as one of the nation’s leading plaintiffs' law firms and handles cases in all 50 states. We are very proud of our legal achievements, but equally self-respecting of our firm's reputation for providing personal attention to each and every client we represent.
