Fatality caused by broken artificial heart valve - any hope for compensation?

[GrnPstrs]

What is the name of your state? AZ, but death occurred in Georgia.

My daughter-in-law died (yesterday) within hours after a Baxter artificial heart valve broke while implanted in her. She was 38 years old when she died and has had the valve implanted since 1986. One piece of the valve has not yet been recovered from her body. Is this a situation in which compensation should be pursued by her husband (my son)? What information should her husband acquire and have on hand at the time he seeks legal advice? Her residence is Washington, but she died in Georgia - Should her husband consult a lawyer in WA or GA? He is still in Georgia, but is returning to WA in a couple weeks.

Any information would be greatly appreciated - we don't know where or how to start. Thank you in advance.

 

[hmmbrdzz]

Hi Grnpstrs: I'm very sorry to hear about your daughter in law. My deepest sympathies to you and your family.

If you son is wondering whether her death could have been prevented, there would be many, many things to consider with respect to her death (i.e. when her death occurred, when the valve broke, her entire medical history, all of her treatments, diagnostics, surgeries, the product, etc.) -- all of these things -- ONLY an attorney will be able to evaluate and give a good opinion as to whether or not your son would have a case and/or what kind of case he would have.

Your son can begin this process by calling a law firm who specializes in medical malpractice. Since the death occurred in GA and he is in GA now, he should call a law firm(s) in that state. Right now, he will only need to provide the law office with the fact that she died and what the cause of death was said to be and where the death occurred. After getting through some basic information, the attorney's office will prompt him through any questions they need answered to determine whether a probable case exists or not and/or whether they will be able to assist and/or (if they can't) who he might consult next. This can be done over the phone, or they may request he come to the office for a more formal consult. The attorney's office will tell him exactly what he needs to do.

Best of luck to you. And again, my condolences.

hmmbrdzz

 

[David.v.Goliath]

heart valve litigation

i would secure a EXPERIANCED medical products liability lawyer as soon as possible. med-mal lawyers don't always handle product liability. I would document the CAUSE of death and sue the doctor who implanted the valve (considering the statute of limitations since 1986) but your main law suit at this point would be against the manufacture of the heart valve for defective design or unreasonably dangerous in compostition and construction. GA will have their own products liability act you must adhere to when sueing. if you only sue the manufacture the manufacture will take you into federal court and you will not have the benefit of state court on your side. The MDA ACT gives particial immunity to manufactures of medical devices and your law suit will have to be craftly drafted to avoid being Pre-empted by federal law. Your claim on its face appears to have a lot of merit so don't go jump in with the first lawyer that says he will take your case. many lawers will take cases because they have merit on the face of the suit and have little if any experiance in that field. The manufacture may have known about this defect and never reported it to the FDA to avoid litigation. It will take a very good dedicated lawyer to win this case, but it can be won.

good luck

i am in litigation with Sulzer right now for the past 5 years over a medical device. what i tell you is from experiance.

D v. G

 

[hmmbrdzz]

D v G, I was reading some of your posts trying to figure out what had happened to you but could never quite get an understanding. Sounds like you've had quite the ordeal from whatever it was and quite a bit of experience with litigation. Please stick around and HELP with on these possible medmal topics, as your experiences as a litigant will give a needed perspective here. I had read some posts from ellence c, with respect to your case, and she sounds very knowledgeable as well (perhaps some experience as an expert witness). Hope she comes back, too, wherever she is!

hmmbrdzz

 

[GrnPstrs]

Thank all of you for your responses - they are gretly appreciated. My Son and I will pursue this and feed back to the forum any information that would benefit others in similar circunstances.

 

[hmmbrdzz]

Hi Grnpstrs: Best wishes to your family during this difficult time. Do keep us posted.

hmmbrdzz

 

[ellencee]

to the original poster, GrnPstrs
Are you saying the Baxter heart valve that broke was the direct cause of death? Did the fractured part(s) migrate and cause death? Was it the original replacement, or artificial, valve that was placed in 1986?
The answers to these questions will affect whether you need to consult with an attorney who specializes in medical product liability or whether you need to consult with an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice.

editing note: I came back to add this note: Just because the artificial heart valve broke, it does not indicate that there is a cause of action for malpractice or medical product liability. Whether or not a cause of action exists depends on at least four factors for a claim of medical malpractice and on an entirely different set of factors for product liability. I did not mean to imply that a cause of action exists.