Fresenius Hit with Lawsuit Over Dialysis Heart Attack Death

Fresenius Medical Care has been hit with a new lawsuit claiming that its dialysis drugs GranuFlo and/or NaturaLyte were responsible for the death of a dialysis patient. Over 1,000 deaths have allegedly been linked to the drugs, which were recalled from the market in 2012.

Plaintiff Debbie Marchant filed the Fresenius wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Victor Maisey, alleging that Maisey died of cardiac arrest as a result of using GranuFlo and/or NaturaLyte. Marchant is charging Fresenius with negligence, negligent design, negligent failure to warn, fraud, wrongful death, and more.

Fresenius is facing over 650 GranuFlo lawsuits filed by dialysis patients who suffered heart attacks from GranuFlo and/or NaturaLyte as well as from family members of deceased GranuFlo heart attack victims.

Dialysis is a process where a patient’s blood is run through a machine and purified. This process is designed to take over for a patient’s failing kidneys. In the process of dialysis, the patient’s blood is run through tubes made out of semi-permeable membrane. The tubes are bathed in a dialysis fluid, which has an osmotic gradient with blood. This means that the fluid will draw biological waste out of the blood.

The various GranuFlo lawsuits against Fresenius allege that GranuFlo and NaturaLyte alter blood chemistry. Specifically, dialysis fluid created with these mixes can allegedly increase the pH of the patients blood, making it too alkaline and causing a condition called alkalosis.

Since many of the body’s biological reaction depend on a stable chemical environment, alkalosis can cause serious problems. Theoretically, alkalosis can promote disruptions in the muscles of the heart. Many of the GranuFlo lawsuits allege that patients suffered from heart problems, including Marchant’s GranuFlo lawsuit.

The legal action against Fresenius has taken the form of a Multi-District Litigation (MDL) or Mass Tort. A Mass Tort is a type of group lawsuit similar to a GranuFlo class action lawsuit. Group lawsuits like class action lawsuits and Mass Torts are appropriate when a group of plaintiffs allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant. The main difference between a GranuFlo class action lawsuit and the GranuFlo Mass Tort is that class action lawsuits are started by a group of plaintiffs (called a class), while Mass Torts are comprised dozens, sometimes hundreds, of individual lawsuits.

Mass Torts are more common in medical product lawsuits than class action lawsuits, since the injuries can very. Group lawsuits like Mass Torts and class action lawsuits are designed to save time and resources for everyone involved.

The GranuFlo Mass Tort is In Re: Fresenius GranuFlo/NaturaLyte Dialysate Product Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2428, filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.

Obtain a Free Case Evaluation against Fresenius

If you or a loved one suffered from serious medical complications after using Fresenius dialysis products, you need to act quickly to ensure that your rights are respected. In many districts, an aspect of law called “the statute of limitations,” can limit the amount of time you can wait before seeking legal remedy. See if you qualify to pursue compensation for you or loved one’s dialysis injuries by submitting your story now for a free case evaluation:

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