New Wrongful Death Lawsuit Added to the Granuflo MDL

A recent Granuflo lawsuit was filed against Fresenius following the death of a woman from California, reports say. The plaintiffs who filed the claim stated that their mother developed severe complications after her dialysis treatment in which Granuflo, along with another dialysis product known as Naturalyte, was used. The lawsuit was filed on March 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. This lawsuit is one among many that are currently pending in courts all over the United States.

Dialysis treatment is a common procedure that is regularly done in clinics across the country in order to help individuals who are suffering from kidney problems. The products that are used in this treatment include dry acid concentrates, such as Granuflo and Naturalyte. Upon entering the body of patients, a chemical reaction turns the acid concentrates into bicarbonate. When incorrectly dosed, the products can elevate a patient’s bicarbonate level uncontrollably. As a result, the patients may develop serious complications that can lead to their deaths.

The manufacturer of Granuflo and Naturalyte, Fresenius Medical Care, discovered the risks related to its dialysis products in 2011. However, reports say that the company managed to warn only its own dialysis centers, going around all other clinics that use its acid concentrates. Nevertheless, a person who did not want to be identified sent a copy of the company’s warning notice to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about a year later. This prompted the agency to immediately issue a class I recall of the acid concentrates.

The two sisters who filed the above mentioned wrongful death lawsuit claim that Fresenius Medical Care is directly responsible for the death of their mother. According to them, the company negligently handled the 2011 discovery of Granuflo and Naturalyte risks, endangering the lives of more than a thousand dialysis patients. The sisters’ wrongful death lawsuit has now been transferred to a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

To date, more than 150 cases are currently pending in the Granuflo MDL in Massachusetts. Many of the plaintiffs who filed these lawsuits claim that they suffered from severe side effects, such as hypercapnia, cardiopulmonary arrest, hypokalemia, cardiac arrhythmia, hypoxemia, and strokes. These individuals are demanding compensation for all the damages they have suffered, including emotional damages. Additional information and updates regarding these lawsuits involving Granuflo may be found on the webpages of lawyers who specialize in personal injury cases, such as the Rottenstein Law Group’s rotlaw.com.