Mo. Federal Judge Grants Medtronic's Motion for Protective Order in Aortic Graft Case

ST. LOUIS - A Missouri federal judge has granted Medtronic's motion for a protective order in a wrongful death case accusing the manufacturer and its sales representative of recommending that a surgeon use the wrong size graft in a patient's aorta during heart surgery.

On Jan. 25, Judge Audrey G. Fleissig of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri found the terms of the proposed protective order are fair and reasonable.

Eva Westmoreland's mother underwent heart surgery, during which the surgeon implanted a Medtronic Endurant II 25 mm graft in her aorta. The woman died following surgery.