Grandfathers Accidental Death

[MACHOUSE]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maine
Need some guidance as I try to help my poor grandmother.
A little background story first:
My 82 year old gfather has had a pacemaker installed for nearly 6 years and for the past few years he has been using the Merlin monitoring system to relay information to his doctors.
Nearly a month ago because the battery in his pacemaker was starting to get low, his office had him start using a Zoll Life Vest as he was not healthy enough at the time to have a surgery to replace the battery in his pacemaker.
Last Friday he was contacted by the folks at Merlin and told he needed to get near the monitoring device so they could get one of there periodic readings. Keep in mind this was the first time that he had one of these readings done while wearing the Life vest.
He made his way to the bedroom and was on the phone for 25 minutes or so while merlin unsuccessfully attempted to get a reading from his pacemaker. My grandmother told them that he was wearing this Life vest now and that could be why it was not allowing them to receive a signal. The lady on the phone was not aware he was now using this vest but assured my gmother this had nothing to do with it. On the final attempt to communicate with the device my gfather experienced a very loud snapping noise, he stood up and said "they shocked me" and then fell to the ground. After several unsuccessful attempts to revive him, he passed away. They are now performing an autopsy to try and figure out what happened.
All I can tell you is that the vest blew apart and leaked a green fluid all over those who tried to help him and he had burns marks all over his chest from what appeared to be a shock. The phone lines in the home also went down as a result of this.

My question is whether or not it is right to pursue legal action and what are your thoughts on the case? This is something we have never had to go through and most importantly we do not want something like this to happen to someone else.

 

[FlyingRon]

Legal action against whom?

The "shock" is what the goo and the shock is what is SUPPOSED to happen when the Zoll detects the arrythmia. You're going to have to show that there's something more than just mere coincidence here.
I guess it's within the possibility that the pacemaker reader device generated some interference, but that's probably a reach.

You need to contact a medical malpractice attorney to see if there's a possibility.

 

[justalayman]

I think the op's concern is that the zoll was somehow activated by the Merlin monitoring folks which actually caused the death of his grandfather.


The zoll monitor pack is supposed to record the heart rhythm. If it shows there was no actionable arrhythmia then either the Zoll malfunctioned or there was somehow some intereference caused by the Merlin system that activated the Zoll.


So where is the Zoll monitor pack now?


I can't imagine how the phone lines were interrupted though.

 

[MACHOUSE]

I understand the zoll is supposed to "shock" the patient. But a) it is not supposed to shock the patient so much that the pack explodes and leaks fluid all over the place as well as burn the patient and b) he had been wearing this zoll for well over a month and it had never done this before. It only occurred after the folks at merlin attempted to communicate with the pacemaker.

Legal action against whom?

The "shock" is what the goo and the shock is what is SUPPOSED to happen when the Zoll detects the arrythmia. You're going to have to show that there's something more than just mere coincidence here.
I guess it's within the possibility that the pacemaker reader device generated some interference, but that's probably a reach.

You need to contact a medical malpractice attorney to see if there's a possibility.

 

[justalayman]

Actually the Zoll intentionally "leaks" the gel. It is require to conduct the electrical shock to the patient. Without the gel being released the Zoll could not effectively shock the patient.

It never did this before because it never saw a shockable arrhythmia. Presumably it did in this case and due to that provided it's designed treatment. I think yiu are focusing on an entirely unimportant detail; the Zoll performing as it is designed to.

What you focus needs to be is did the Zoll act properly in response to a detected treatable arrythmia or did it malfunction either on its own or due to some issue involving the Merlin system.


And any shock causes burns. Electricity does that. Whether your grandfather experienced burns exceeding what is anticipated and acceptable I cannot say. That is something the manufacturer and FDA would have to determine.

 

[LdiJ]

Actually the Zoll intentionally "leaks" the gel. It is require to conduct the electrical shock to the patient. Without the gel being released the Zoll could not effectively shock the patient.

It never did this before because it never saw a shockable arrhythmia. Presumably it did in this case and due to that provided it's designed treatment. I think yiu are focusing on an entirely unimportant detail; the Zoll performing as it is designed to.

What you focus needs to be is did the Zoll act properly in response to a detected treatable arrythmia or did it malfunction either on its own or due to some issue involving the Merlin system.


And any shock causes burns. Electricity does that. Whether your grandfather experienced burns exceeding what is anticipated and acceptable I cannot say. That is something the manufacturer and FDA would have to determine.

I suspect that its the coroner who is going to be making that determination.

 

[justalayman]

I suspect that its the coroner who is going to be making that determination.

Unless he is very familiar with the device I'm not sure he is capable of making that determination. The gel is to help prevent the burns (as well as to increase conductivity) so if the wearer shifted such that the stimulator pad was not on a gelled area, the burns could be considerably worse. This alone does not mean there was a problem with the device but simply what can happen in an imperfect world.


I have done a bit more reading on the device. It appears before the device gives a shock it is prefaced by several actions. First it vibrates to give the wearer notification it is seeing a treatable arrythmia. The wearer is then required to push a button acknowledging the vibration. If the wearer responds by holding the button continually the device does not administer a shock. It will continue monitoring and if there is a point where there is a treatable arrythmia and the patient loses consciousness (that's what the button is for) it will administer a shock

Along with the vibration, and very important to this situation, the device will issue an alarm and verbal notice to stand clear of the wearer. This is to avoid others from being shocked. In the scenario presented there was no mention of this warning. While grandpa may have missed the vibration, surely his wife would have heard the alert. This suggest an improper activation of the electrical stimulation.

As I said before, the control unit data needs to be reviewed to determine if the device recorded a treatable rhythm of if it was activated due to a defect within itself or due to outside interference.

 

[MACHOUSE]

Thank you for the info. It has been very helpful.
Would I be right to assume that the conversation as well as the signal transmissions between the csr at merlin and my grandmother while on the hone with them would be recorded and provide useful information as to how this occured.

 

[Zigner]

Thank you for the info. It has been very helpful.
Would I be right to assume that the conversation as well as the signal transmissions between the csr at merlin and my grandmother while on the hone with them would be recorded and provide useful information as to how this occured.

Please contact a med-mal attorney and/or a product liability attorney ASAP - your sleuthing is not going to help. I am sorry for your loss, but it sounds to me as if your grandfather had a heart attack, plain and simple. The medical device he was wearing either functioned as intended and wasn't able to save him, or it didn't function as intended. If it didn't function as intended, then you will need experts to figure that out and testify that if it HAD operated as intended he wouldn't have passed.

 

[justalayman]

Yes, what that guy /\. Said.

Time is not your friend. The data from the device would be critical Losing it, in my worthless opinion, would make the case pretty much unwinnable. It needs to be preserved and the only person that is going to be able to effect that for you is an attorney.