Medtronic Granted Summary Judgment in Pump Implant Case

DETROIT - A Michigan federal judge has granted summary judgment to Medtronic Inc. on claims that its negligence in sending the wrong medical procedure kit to a hospital proximately caused the patient to die from an overdose of morphine. William Beaumont Hospital, et al., v. Medtronic Inc., No. 09-11941 (E.D. Mich.).

Judge Robert H. Cleland of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ruled that failure of the hospital's staff to recognize that the kit was the wrong type was the superceding cause of the patient's death.

On April 15, 2005, Kathy Cober died of an overdose …