Manufacturing Defect Claim in Cardiac Guide Wire Action to Proceed Against Abbott Labs

BOSTON — The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur defeats Abbott Laboratories’ motion for summary judgment in a cardiac guide wire case because the device maker failed to proffer evidence that the wire was mishandled after it left its control, a Massachusetts federal judge has ruled.

In a May 13 order, Chief Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts further held that the surgeons’ use of the cardiac guide wire in an alleged off-label manner was “foreseeable” and does not warrant an award of summary judgment to Abbott on the plaintiff’s manufacturing defect claim.

In …