DaVita Wants Dialysis Product Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed
By Jessica Tyner
DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. has asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to warn customers about the dangers of two dialysis products linked to heart attacks and strokes, saying it does “not manufacture, sell, or otherwise place products into the stream of commerce and thus cannot be liable under those laws governing alleged defects of products.”
The products at question in the class action lawsuit are GranuFlo and NaturaLyte – drugs manufactured by a company called Fresenius Medical Care for kidney dialysis. These drugs have been linked to an increased risk of heart-related issues including fatal cardiac arrest.
Fresenius Medical Care operates the most dialysis centers in the U.S. and is facing a host of lawsuits over GranuFlo-induced heart attacks. However, other dialysis clinics like DaVita that used the recalled products have got mixed up in the fray. Sometimes it can be confusing to figure out just who might be to blame when a drug reveals extreme risks, and that’s just what happened in the proposed DaVita class action lawsuit.
Earlier this month, DaVita asked the charges to be dismissed entirely, including under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. According to the company, the monetary relief GranuFlo sufferers are seeking is barred and it was never DaVita’s responsibility to information about harmful GranuFlo side effects.
Plaintiffs in the DaVita class action lawsuit are saying that “fraudulent concealment” was used so that only a select few people knew about the GranuFlo complications. Plaintiffs allege that DaVita failed to warn patients about the risks of GranuFlo and NaturaLyte.
The Motion to Dismiss states that “despite three attempts to plead viable claims, Plaintiffs still fail to articulate any sustainable basis for liability against DaVita…rather than sue Fresenius in this case, Plaintiffs continue to bring this lawsuit against DaVita.”
The two previous attempts to sue DaVita didn’t pass muster, and DaVita told the federal judge presiding over the class action lawsuit that this latest attempt simply repeats, with very minor variations, the “same flawed claims” as before. DaVita say sit “had no duty to re-warn patients of a prescribed treatment’s risks after the physicians have already used their own expertise and intimate knowledge of their patients in issuing individualized prescriptions.”
DaVita further argued that while GranuFlo victims are saying that DaVita didn’t disclose the facts about the risks of GranuFlo side effects, plaintiffs are unable to provide the time, date, place or identity of DaVita employees who learned about GranuFlo risks.
Of the many plaintiffs suing DaVita, five of them are surviving family member who lost loved ones while being treated at a DaVita center. They’re not claiming that dialysis machines were defective or that GranuFlo was wrongly administered. They say DaVita either knew or should have known about the risks of heart attack caused by the products it used.
The victims say that even if DaVita didn’t know about the risks, they should have known or was negligent in not knowing that certain levels of the patient’s blood were on the rise and could lead to cardiac arrest.
Were You or a Loved One Hurt by GranuFlo?
If you or a loved one were given GranuFlo or NaturaLyte during dialysis treatment and suffered side effects like heart attack, stroke or death, you might have a GranuFlo legal claim. Learn more at the Kidney Dialysis Heart Attack, GranuFlo & NaturaLyte Recall Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation. You’ll be able to submit your information for a free legal review, and a lawyer will contact you if you qualify.
All medical device, dangerous drug and medical class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Drug and Medical Device section of Top Class Actions.
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