Fresenius Class Action Lawsuit-Like Consolidation for Dialysis Injury Cases
A request has been filed to consolidate all Fresenius dialysis injury lawsuits for coordinated handling as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation. If the consolidated proceedings are established, all lawsuits filed in the federal court system will be transferred to one judge where they will be coordinated in a manner similar to a Fresenius class action lawsuit. However, there are important differences between an MDL and a class action.
A growing number of individuals have filed a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit over problems caused by Fresenius’s recalled Granuflo or Naturalyte dialysis treatments. It is ultimately expected that thousands of individuals will file a lawsuit over a cardiac arrest or heart attack after treatment at a Fresenius dialysis centers or other clinics where Granuflo or Naturalyte were used.
Fresenius Dialysis Injury MDL vs. Class Action
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is expected to consider the motion to transfer all cases at an upcoming hearing set for March 2013. The initial request proposes that the Fresenius dialysis litigation be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. However, Fresenius Medical Care has not yet responded to the motion and the Panel will ultimately determine the most appropriate transfer venue if an MDL is established.
If the panel does decide to consolidate the cases, they would be managed in a manner similar to a Fresenius class action lawsuit during pretrial litigation to reduce duplicative discovery, avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges and to service the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the courts. However, each lawsuit over complications following the dialysis treatments will remain an individual claim and each plaintiff must still contact a lawyer to establish that their injury was caused by Granuflo or Naturalyte acid concentrates.
Many people commonly confuse an MDL with a class action lawsuit for the Fresenius dialysis treatment injuries, since a large number of similar cases will be coordinated during discovery and pretrial litigation. However, ultimately if a Naturalyte or Granuflo settlement is not reached as part of the MDL, each case may be remanded back to the U.S. District Court where it was originally filed for an individual trial date.
Unlike a class action lawsuit, where all claims are litigated through a class representative, each individual’s dialysis treatment injury must be evaluated separately, as the impact of the cardiac arrest, heart attack or death following dialysis treatment will be different in each case.
FRESENIUS DIALYSIS CLASS ACTION LAWYERS
The Fresenius injury lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. represent individuals throughout the United States who are pursuing a claim for themselves or a deceased loved one who experienced severe heart problems that may have been caused by the Fresenius dialysis solutions NaturaLyte and GranuFlo, such as:
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
- Cardiopulmonary Arrest
- Low Blood Pressure
- Sudden Death
All case are handled by our dialysis treatment attorneys on a contingency fee basis, meaning there is no fees unless a recovery is obtained. To review a potential case for you or a family member, request a free consultation and claim evaluation.
17 Comments • Add Your Comments
N. Elaine says:
My mom passed away on 10/17/2012 and I don’t know if I have a claim but wanted to see if there is one. She was on dialysis for nine months and sufferred congestive heart failure on several occasions after starting dialysis in feb 2012.
Posted on December 19, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Beth says:
My dad passed away in July 2009 after coming home from dialysis at the clinic owned by Fresenius. He laid down to rest because the dialysis was too much for him. Each time he came home he was so weak he could hardly walk. My sister is a nurse, she attempted to talk to the doctors and workers at the clinic to explain how weak the dialysis made him. No one at the clinic would listen to anything she had to say.
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:22 pm
James says:
Just wanted to add that no one would listen to me either and now I’m in congestive heart failure after years at Fresenius and one nurse told me that Epo was a money-maker drug for all Nephrologist as well as Internist and that they pushed this drug on all their patients. They pressured me so much that I was unable to have my dialysis treatments without fearing they would give me this drug. I’m sure I received granuflo and naturallyte as I heard them talking about having to mix this for treatments. I’m sure this could be why I’m having a problem with my heart. However, I wish someone would check into Epo. I also have a cancer on my face which I didn’t have before and am now having to do radiation on my face. If you have any cancer in your body, this Epo spreads it like wildfire and they still want me to take this medicine. I missed my session today as I’m so nervous about all these things happening to me. I pray for all those that have suffered and there seems to be no answer unless some of the law firms shut them down. and someone takes over that really cares for these patients. Don’t ever go into dialysis unless the doctor follows the rules set forth in the Merck manual which is not what I got. I found this out when my mom started reading about what should be done in order to know when a patient is ready for dialysis. None of this protocol was followed before putting me into dialysis. You are supposed to educate a patient before placing them in dialysis and do certain tests as this is the pits for people who have to go there. My mom fired this doctor but have noticed that all Nephrologist and some Internist want to get on the bandwagon of giving Epo to patients. I have an uncle who died from taking this drug. I appreciate what this firm is doing for patients and hope they will look into Epogen.
Posted on January 16, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Mike says:
My father passed away suddenly on 12/15/09 the day after getting a dialysis treatment at Fresenius in Rolling Meadows Illinois. That tragic day I picked my father up from his treatment and was told we had to stay an extra hour because they could not stop the bleeding. I sat with him and the nurse at the clinic seemed to be rushed since it was getting late in the afternoon. The nurse told me that he was all clear to go and I took him home. He bleed to death that night. I’ve been searching for answers since that day. Did the clinic do something wrong? Was the nurse more worried about going home for the night? I now read about this suit and I hope to find some answers.
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:00 am
Lewis says:
My dad passed away at his dialysis treatment march 28 2012 .what get me is that they no this drug was no good but yet they r taking so long to go to courth.i no they killed my dad it is murder so y is it taking so long to go to court.i want justice for my dad and it shouldnt take this long to go to court all these lawyers want to take the case but none r pushing to get justice fast. If its not your dad its not a rush to get in court.there have not been one settlement yet on these case and look like it will take 3 to 4 years before something is done about my dad killling.COURTS. WAKE UP THIS IS MURDER. MY DAD WAS MURDER BY TAKING A DRUG that THE COMPANY KNEW WAS NO GOOD I WISH THE NEWS WOULD CALL ME TO TALK ABOUT THIS LIVE PLEASE COME TALK WITH ME .I need to let the public no this was murder not just wrongful death .I LOST MY BEST friend while the company is still making money .and the courts are moving so slow alot of people were killed.to get this word out to stock holders MY DAD use to say its all about the money this company only cared about the money and alot of people have died
Posted on March 4, 2013 at 10:39 pm
Tracie says:
My mom passed away October 4,2004 from congestive heart failure at the age of 53. She was also a dialysis patient and was being treated at a dialysis treatment center in Ferriday,La which was a clinic owned by Fresenius. My mom would have her good days and bad days. Bad days out weighed the good but she fought until she couldnt anymore. She woke up one night only to go to the hospital and never come back home. Im not sure wat was mixed to give her treatments but I would love to know if granuflo and naturallyte was used during my mom’s treatments. My mom would dread going to dialysis because she stated it would make her feel worse. Always said she felt better before going in for treatment or not going at all than she did if she went. I would hate to think that this happened but we do have people who are into things just for the money. I remember surfing the internet to side effects when my mom came home feeling awful and nauseated….She say baby, its those machines that got me feeling like this but they say this helps, no this makes me feel BAD. No money could compensate me for my mom’s loss but I would love to know.
Posted on March 23, 2013 at 5:46 pm
Patricia says:
My mother passed away suddenly between 4/29 & 4/30/13 of a heart attack after dialysis. She complained of being tired and laid down to rest and die suddenly. I believe this medicine was used to treat my mother who had renal failure and on dialysis for approximately 7 years.
Posted on May 17, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Ladell says:
My mom started dialysis in the beginning of 2007. She always complained of severe weakness and chest pains but I thought those symptoms were a normal occurance. My mother’s last treatment was 9/17/2011…She passed away on 9/19/2011 and according to the death cert. the cause of death was “chronic kidney disease” but, according to the nursing home staff my mom went into cardiac arrest and although they performed CPR they were unable to get a pulse…Damn!!! I miss her dearly!!! I feel really bad because I know that she continued to get the treatments for me 🙁
Posted on August 7, 2013 at 2:26 am
Tarsha says:
TODAY, is the 2-year anniversary of my husband, Willie’s death. Nine months prior, on December 9, 2010, he suffered a massive stroke 2 days after receiving his dialysis treatment at a Fresenius center in Louisiana. My husband had only been receiving dialysis for 18 months before he had a massive stroke. Like others have stated, he constantly complained of the extreme fatigue after his treatments. And, for several months before his stroke, he was suffering from complications that are now being attributed to GranuFlo and NaturaLyte. He would frequently have to be removed from the dialysis machines early because his blood pressure was dangerously low or he would faint. We questioned the staff at the dialysis centers he went to REPEATEDLY about what could be causing these alarming symptoms and we were ignored. My poor husband spent the remaining months of his life (after the massive stroke) in and out of hospitals and nursing homes. The stroke left him unable to talk or walk. I am still extremely upset about the circumstances surrounding his passing, including that our daughter was just starting her senior year in high school when he had the massive stroke. And, she had only been in college a mere 2 weeks (Freshman year), when he passed away, due to all the complications from the stroke. I know with every cell in my body that my husband’s dialysis treatments caused the massive stroke, which drastically impacted his life (not to mention changed my and my daughter’s life for the worse), and ultimately led to his death.
Posted on September 4, 2013 at 4:57 pm
Christine says:
I have been on dialysis since December 2009. Had by-pass surgery=heart in August 2005. In April 2013 kept having low blood pressure and fainting (was in Largo/clearwater Florida Fresenias dialysis center at that time) The dialysis center had gotten new machinary and while I was dialysizing, they were training on it. I already was diagnosed with pulmanary hypertension, diabetic, and was being treated for high blood pressure. Currently, I was diagnosed with Pulmanary Arterial Hypertension, On Remodullan, IV PUMP, Oxygen 24/7 continuouse. I live in NH and have dialysis at Seacoast Fresenias. I always wondered if the PAH was caused by the Florida dialysis unit.
Posted on November 7, 2013 at 2:47 pm
michel says:
can anyone tell me what the medical examiner reports said? did it cause them to have blocked arteries or just cause a heart attack? ,My dad died in 2007 after switching to a new dialysis place. He told me he didn’t feel well after and i didn’t think anything of it . After his second treatment he passed. it was not his time. He looked puffy. This should not have happened.
Posted on June 3, 2014 at 8:24 pm
Linda says:
I was put on dialysis in November, 2013. In August of 2013 my nephrologist had me taking 30 mg of lisinipril. He had told me that that amount can damage my kidneys, but he didn’t care. I started retaining water. By November, I was all swelled up and had a hard time breathing. The hospital took off 25 pounds of fluid through dialysis treatments. When I got out of the hospital in December, I started dialysis at a Fresenious clinic. Everything was okay at first but then I started having these headaches. They didn’t want to listen to me and kept telling me the headaches were caused by the low blood pressure. I believed them at first but I was having the headaches when my blood pressure wasn’t low. I finally discovered that the headaches were due to them taking too much fluid off me. So they raised my dry weight and I didn’t have the headaches for a short time. They started up again and I told them they were trying to take too much fluid off again. One day one of the techs told me I needed to try to take off more fluid. I suffered horribly that day. Every time I went there I felt like I was going to a torture chamber. In April I had had it and told them I was done with the dialysis. They didn’t want to hear that. I went another week and told them again that I wasn’t coming back. They had me talk to the doctor there and he said that if I had lab work done once a week and things were okay he would let me get off dialysis. My last dialysis treatment was on April 29, 2014, I had the labs done for the month of May, and I am feeling just fine. The other problem I was having the last month of treatment was chest pains. I had a heart attack in April, 2009 and as a result had to have a triple bypass. I was afraid of having another heart attack when I started having the chest pains.
Posted on July 4, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Rose says:
My mom was at dylsis 45 minutes later has a heart attach.i need closure,she been doing great for 21 months dont understand this.
Posted on November 5, 2014 at 11:06 am
Marilyn says:
You are right this is murder not wrongful death. If you or I gave someone meds that we knew were tainted or bad we would be up for murder charges. My mom died 6 months after the fda recall in 3-12.The fda should be held responsible too. These drugs should have been disposed of in March when they recalled it.
Posted on June 29, 2015 at 6:49 am
Sherri says:
My husband had been recieving dialysis for quiet a few yrs. He passed away November 16,2011 just a few days after they they did the recall November 11,2011 also also just a few days before his bday November 19 ,2011
Posted on July 21, 2015 at 1:36 pm
Sylvia says:
Shortly after my mother began dialysis her health deteriated rapidly. She also continuously commented how weak & ill she felt afer her sessions. My mother died on Noember 6, 2006 while having her dialysis. I agree this is no wrongful death, this is murder! Their greed took preference to the lives of our love one! So who is going to prison?
Posted on July 10, 2016 at 5:51 pm
Michael says:
My mother was a dialysis patient for over 20 years before she past away within 48hours after having treatment. She went on a Monday morning for treatment and was on her way back Wednesday morning when she went into a cardiac arrest. She always complain about being tired and weak. She passed away on October 2010.
Posted on January 17, 2017 at 7:36 am