Zoll Medical Prevails in Tenn. Federal Defibrillator Vest Action

JACKSON, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which a woman alleges a Zoll Medical Corp. defibrillator vest caused her husband’s death, finding she failed to present expert testimony supporting her allegation that the device was defective when it left the manufacturer’s control.

On Dec. 3, Chief Judge Thomas Anderson of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee explained that the vest “is a complex medical device not familiar to ordinary consumers or lay witnesses,” therefore the plaintiff needed to offer expert testimony establishing that it was unreasonably dangerous.

Zoll designs, manufactures, …