Kidney Patients Continue to File GranuFlo Lawsuits After Recall

Kidney Patients Continue to File GranuFlo Lawsuits After Recall

By Christina Drury

Millions of Americans require ongoing kidney treatments each year, and one of the most common treatments is dialysis. Dialysis helps to filter out the toxins of the kidneys when they can no longer do it themselves. To aid in the filtering of the kidneys there are several medications that can be used. One such medication is known as GranuFlo. While it was regularly used because it is easier for doctors to order and store, it came under scrutiny when the FDA received an anonymous inside notice about the possible side effects of GranuFlo that were putting patients at risk. Since then, there have been nearly 800 GranuFlo lawsuits filed and as a result the courts are seeking to combine them under a multi-district litigation (MDL).

GranuFlo Lawsuits Continue to Be Filed

Due to the GranuFlo side effects that many people have reported, and the questionable practices that Fresenius Medical used in alerting the public of potential problems, there have been hundreds of GranuFlo lawsuits filed. The first one was filed in September 2012 and now, in January, there are GranuFlo lawsuits pending in 46 states.
The past month alone has seen the filing of 26 additional GranuFlo lawsuits, all of which would likely become part of the MDL should one be established.

Fresenius Medical Pushes for MDL

Despite the fact that Fresenius Medical believes that the GranuFlo lawsuits will be dismissed, when 11 plaintiffs filed for the creation of a GranuFlo MDL the company supported the motion. Fresenius would like to see the MDL be assigned to a court in Massachusetts, while plaintiffs have suggested either Mississippi or Alabama. These are bound to be the two likely locations since the majority of the GranuFlo lawsuits are being filed in these southern states.

Fresenius has been public in its statements that the GranuFlo lawsuits will fail because the plaintiffs cannot reasonably show that GranuFlo was at the root of the side effects they experienced. Fresenius also stated that there is no evidence against the company revealing the fact that they had any insight into the possible risks of GranuFlo heart attacks and other side effects.

One Pertinent Piece of Evidence

Plaintiffs do have a significant piece of evidence that will likely work in their favor. In 2011, Fresenius sent out notifications to their own medical clinics about the dangers of GranuFlo in terms of dosage errors that led to fatal GranuFlo side effects – including 941 instances of cardiac death that occurred in Fresenius clinics alone. No outside clinics – despite their use of the drug – were warned, leading to continuation of the medication and subsequent dosing errors.

Get GranuFlo Lawsuit Aid

If you were injured by the use of either NaturaLyte or GranuFlo while undergoing kidney dialysis, you may be eligible for compensation. For more information, you are invited to visit our Kidney Dialysis Heart Attack, GranuFlo & NaturaLyte Recall Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation page. You can also submit your information in consideration of joining the existing GranuFlo lawsuits to qualified attorneys.