Daughter Sues Fresenius for Mother’s Wrongful Dialysis Death

Alabama plaintiff Dorothy Leshore filed a GranuFlo lawsuit on Jan. 31, 2014 on behalf of her late mother, Julia Flennory, claiming that complications from the dialysis drug resulted in her death.

According to Leshore’s GranuFlo lawsuit, Fresenius, the maker of the drug, “negligently and improperly failed to perform sufficient tests, if any, concerning NaturaLyte’s and/or GranuFlo’s potential to cause serious and grave health consequences, including but not limited to death cardiopulmonary arrest, hypokalemia, hypoxemia, hypercapnia, cardiac arrhythmias, and/or hypotension, during clinical trials.”

The GranuFlo lawsuit goes on to allege, “The use of NaturaLyte and/or GranuFlo in dialysis treatment caused the Decedent to suffer severe injuries and damages including but not limited to the following: severe adverse cardiovascular event and cardiovascular death on or about Nov. 19, 2011.”

GranuFlo and NaturaLyte are designed to help level the bicarbonate levels of the blood during kidney dialysis, a necessary precaution, but so many people have complained of the high risks that a GranuFlo MDL has been established. The members include a number of people who have filed GranuFlo lawsuits on behalf of their late parents and partners. [See if you qualify to join the GranuFlo MDL now.]

“Representations and concealments were made by Defendants with the intent of defrauding and/or deceiving the Plaintiff(s), the Decedent, the public in general and the medical and healthcare community, and were made with the intent of inducing the public in general, and the medical community in particular, to recommend, dispense, prescribe, administer and/or otherwise use NaturaLyte and/or GranuFlo as acid concentrates during hemodialysis, all of which evinced a callous, reckless, willful, depraved indifference to health, safety and welfare of the Decedent,” Leshore alleges in the GranuFlo lawsuit.

This incident came after the late 2009 internal memo sent by Fresenius to a selected number of physicians from a handful of Fresenius clinics. The memo warned about the GranuFlo risks. When this memo was leaked, critics say it shows that the company knew about GranuFlo complications but took no action to warn anyone except for a few key people. In fact, some people say the company was actually covering it up. Fresenius was both the company that had the most kidney dialysis centers in the country and manufactured its own related drugs. It also sold GranuFlo to other, non-Fresenius clinics.

“Despite their knowledge of the serious health consequences and risks associated with their NaturaLyte and/or GranuFlo, Defendants engaged in a marketing campaign to promote the purchase and/or sales of their NaturaLyte and/or GranuFlo,”  Leshore says.

“Defendants negligently and/or fraudulently represented to the medical and healthcare community, the FDA, the Plaintiff(s), the Decedent, and the public in general that NaturaLyte and/or GranuFlo had been tested and were found to be safe and/or effective for their indicated use – as acid concentrates to be administered during hemodialysis,” the GranuFlo lawsuit continues.

Neither the plaintiff nor her mother were aware that the dialysis drugs could cause such a negative impact. Had they known, the GranuFlo lawsuit claims, the plaintiff’s mother could have chosen a different dialysis drug to use.

“Defendants negligently and improperly failed to perform sufficient tests, if any, concerning NaturaLyte’s and/or GranuFlo’s potential to cause serious and grave health consequences, including but not limited to death, cardiopulmonary arrest, hypokalemia, hypoxemia, hypercapnia, cardiac arrhythmias, and/or hypotension, during clinical trials,” the GranuFlo lawsuit states.

In Good Company

While Leshore hasn’t joined a GranuFlo class action lawsuit, she may qualify to do so in the future. This can give her a faster resolution for her complaint and she’ll still enjoy an individual trial by jury. Streamlining the process can be a good avenue for getting a fair result without treading through multiple discovery processes over and over again. Should Leshore take this route, she’ll be joining many other adult children who have similar complaints.

Currently, she’s suing Fresenius for negligence and negligence, strict products liability, violation of the Alabama Extended Manufacturer’s Liability Warranty, breach of warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, wantonness, unjust enrichment, and wrongful death.

“Defendants had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the designing, researching, manufacturing, marketing, supplying, promoting, packaging, sale and/or distribution of NaturaLyte and/or GranuFlo into the stream of commerce, including a duty to assure that the product would not cause users to suffer unreasonable, dangerous side effects,” the GranuFlo lawsuit states.

The case is Dorothy Leshore, et al v. Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc., et al, Case No.: 2:14-cv-00039-CG-N, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.

Did GranuFlo Impact Your Life?

If you or someone you love was impacted by this dialysis drug, you might have a GranuFlo legal claim. Read more at the Kidney Dialysis Heart Attack Issues GranuFlo Lawsuit & NaturaLyte Recall Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation. Submit your information, and an attorney will contact you soon if you have a GranuFlo claim review available.