The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on families who earlier this month went to Washington to urge Congress to pass the Medical Device Safety Act. Among the families was Michele Meyer, whose daughter Katie “died in 2008 after surgery to remove a heart defibrillator wire made by Medtronic Inc. that had been recalled for safety reasons. She was joined in Washington by Mark and Janice Baird of Oakdale, who lost their 16-year-old son Robert after his Medtronic pacemaker malfunctioned.” Meyer “worries that the Medical Device Safety Act may get lost as Congress debates behemoth health care reform legislation. Despite that, she says she’ll continue to lobby on behalf of the bill as she grieves her daughter’s death.” Michael Johnson, a lawyer for the Baird family, said that a Supreme Court’s ruling granting immunity to the manufacturers of certain medical devices “makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to pursue legal remedies in cases like Michele’s and the Bairds.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
