GranuFlo Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed against Fresenius

The son of a Pennsylvania woman who died from a heart attack after receiving kidney dialysis treatment has filed a Granuflo wrongful death lawsuit against Fresenius, alleging that the kidney dialysis additive was responsible for his mother’s death.

On Jan. 4, 2011, Wilhelmina Booth was at DSI Northern Philadelphia for her kidney dialysis treatment when she died from a sudden heart attack.

Her son, Brian Booth, filed a GranuFLo lawsuit on March 5, 2014, even though the usual two-year statute of limitations had passed because Booth had just learned that his mother was being given GranuFlo during her dialysis treatment and that the drug was pulled from the market for being dangerous in recent months.

Both GranuFlo and NaturaLyte were products designed, manufactured and distributed by Fresenius. This drug manufactuer was, at one time, not only the most expansive kidney dialysis “chain” in the country but also the maker of these two drugs which, according to the growing number GranuFlo class action lawsuits, was overly dangerous and could cause heart attacks and death.

Fresenius owns its own clinics, but they also provided GranuFlo to other competing dialysis centers across the country. Even though the Pennsylvania woman wasn’t being treated at a dialysis center owned by Fresenius, she was at a clinic where GranuFlo was used.

It’s only been a couple of years since GranuFlo was recalled, but victims and survivors allege that Fresenius knew about the hazards for years. The GranuFlo lawsuits claim that the company was simply too profitable to take action and warn the community about GranuFlo dangers.

This allegation was given more credibility when a 2009 internal memo was revealed. The memo, sent by Fresenius headquarters, was only meant to be seen by a few doctors at a couple of Fresenius clinics. There were never any efforts made to warn all Fresenius dialysis centers, the medical community as a whole or the patients who were receiving the drugs.

Once that memo was leaked, GranuFlo and NaturaLyte were pulled from the market. According to Booth’s GranuFlo complaint, his mother was never warned about the heart attack risk associated with the additive.

GranuFlo is designed to even out the bicarbonate levels of the blood during kidney dialysis. Most GranuFlo victims have heart attacks and/or die while actually getting the dialysis and being injected with the drug.

Booth claims that if Fresenius had been forthcoming with the information about the potential risks linked to GranuFlo, his mother’s death could have been avoided.

Like other GranuFlo lawsuits, Booth claims that Fresenius knew about the dangers or should have known, but did nothing to stop more incidents from happening. On the contrary, he claims, Fresenius took willful action to hide the GranuFlo side effects because it was so profitable for the company.

Booth is suing Fresenius for strict liability, negligent failure to warn, negligent design, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranties, fraud, violation of consumer protection laws, loss of consortium, wrongful death and survivor action.

Booth has joined the GranuFlo multi-district litigation (MDL) as a faster way to pursue the compensation he says he deserves after his mother died from a heart attack allegedly caused by GranuFlo.

If you or someone you know was hurt by GranuFlo or NaturaLyte, 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. Once your information is received, an attorney will contact you if you qualify for a GranuFlo claim review.