Product Liability Claims to Proceed in Ind. Federal Medtronic Defibrillator Action

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana federal judge has allowed claims of design defect and failure to warn to proceed against Medtronic in a defibrillator action, finding the plaintiffs adequately alleged the device’s leads were defective, thereby causing the user to sustain an electrical shock.

However, in the Dec. 7 order, Judge Jan Magnus-Stinson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana dismissed the breach of warranty claim with prejudice, finding the plaintiffs failed to allege that they entered into any type of bargain or purchase agreement with Medtronic, or to plead any facts that allege vertical privity.