Ky. Jury Awards Plaintiffs $7.2 Million in Advanced Bionics Cochlear Implant Case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky federal jury awarded the plaintiffs in a defective cochlear implant case $7.2 million, including $6.25 million in punitive damages, after determining that Advanced Bionics Inc. failed to properly test the device before selling it to the general public.

On April 18, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky jury also found Advanced Bionics unlawfully switched the outside vendor of the device’s feedthru component without notifying the Food and Drug Administration. This made the device unreasonably dangerous and defective, the jury determined.

The trial was overseen by Senior District Judge Thomas Russell. …