Fresenius Hit with New GranuFlo Wrongful Death Lawsuit

On March 3, 2014, Bernadine Moore filed a GranuFlo lawsuit against Fresenius USA Inc. on behalf of herself and her late husband, Ferman Moore.

Fresenius owned and operated the most kidney dialysis centers in the United States. The company also manufactured two drugs which leveled the blood’s bicarbonate levels, GranuFlo and NaturaLyte, which have been strongly linked to causing heart attacks and other cardio events. In many cases, such as with Mr. Moore, the patient died while getting treatment.

The California couple was unaware of the full GranuFlo risks, just like hundreds of other victims, Mrs. Moore claims in her GranuFlo lawsuit.

In late 2009, an internal Fresenius memo was leaked, detailing the risks of heart attacks associated with GranuFlo. During this time, a notice was sent to a handful of doctors at a couple of Fresenius clinics warning about GranuFlo complications. It was never sent, or intended to be sent, to all physicians, clinics and healthcare professionals who worked with the drugs. The memo was leaked to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011, prompting the federal agency to issue a Class I recall of both GranuFlo and NaturaLyte in June 2012, which is only for product that may result in serious injury or death.

Due to this, a GranuFlo class action lawsuit was formed as people began to figure out that the heart attacks weren’t an unfortunate coincidence and were allegedly caused by the drugs.

On December 21, 2009, Ferman suffered a cardiac arrest and died while getting dialysis treatment, “which is alleged to have been caused by Defendants NaturaLyte and/or GranuFlo administered to Plaintiff for dialysis treatment at: DaVita Waterloo Dialysis Clinic.”

Mr. Moore wasn’t going to a Fresenius clinic for his kidney dialysis treatment, but DaVita Waterloo did purchase the drugs from Fresenius. It wasn’t until later that Bernadine discovered her husband’s death may have been caused by the drugs.

Just a month prior to his death is when the internal memo was leaked, but that wasn’t enough time for the warnings and information to become common knowledge or for the FDA to recall the drugs, which was done just a few months later.

Mrs. Moore claims in her GranuFlo lawsuit that if she and her husband had known the true GranuFlo complications, they would have opted for a safer drug. There are a number of drugs which perform the same function but without the same heart attack risks.

The many people who have joined the GranuFlo class action lawsuit have the same complaint  — that Fresenius intentionally withheld the full GranuFlo side effects since it was such a profitable drug. The GranuFlo lawsuits also allege that the company either knew the risks or should have known well before it was released on the market.

In her GranuFlo lawsuit, Mrs. Moore is charging Fresenius with strict liability, negligent failure to warn, negligent design, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for particular purpose, breach of express warranty, fraud, violation of consumer protection laws, loss of consortium, wrongful death, and survival action.

The GranuFlo lawsuit is Bernadine Moore et al v. Fresenius USA Inc., et al, MDL No.: 2428, in the U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts.

File a GranuFlo Class Action Lawsuit Claim

If you or someone you know experienced a negative side effect after GranuFlo or NaturaLyte were used during kidney dialysis, legal options are available.  Learn more and get a free consultation regarding a claim’s eligibility at the Kidney Dialysis Heart Attack, GranuFlo & NaturaLyte Recall Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation.  Experienced legal professionals acid concentrates played a roll in your complications, so act now.