In a suit against Guidant Corporation over defective defibrillators, attorneys successfully protected their clients against the action of a corporate subsidiary intended to move the suit from Indiana to federal court. Linda Mason and Ryan Terry are suing Guidant Corporation in their home state, separate from many federal cases involving the same suit. The suit is related to defective defibrillators that suffered from numerous problems, including batteries unable to hold a charge, leading in some cases to heart failure and wrongful death. This suit goes beyond simple malpractice to accusations of deliberate and calculated deception from a corporation that knew its product was defective three years before issuing a recall.
Guidant Corporation, now a subsidiary of Boston Scientific, had announced a settlement of all related federal cases, which were then put on hold while the individual plaintiffs decided whether to accept the settlement or not. Guidant Corporation attempted to use its subsidiary, Minnesota-based Cardiac Pacemakers, which actually manufactured the devices, to force the Mason-Terry case into federal court, where it would be frozen along with other suits.
However, attorneys representing Mason and Terry successfully argued that moving the case would place undue burden on the plaintiffs and cause unnecessary delay by transferring the case to federal court.
Looking at the kinds of maneuverings that go on in these cases, it is clear that if you are thinking about taking on a big corporation, you must proceed with a good lawyer at your side. If you or a loved one has suffered as a result of corporate malfeasance, contact Houston area personal injury lawyers Marc Whitehead & Associates, who can help you maneuver the murky waters of litigation.
