Back in February, the United States Supreme Court dealt a hefty blow to citizen protection to seek compensation after being injured by a defective medical device. In this landmark case, our highest court ruled against Charles Riegel, the victim of a defective balloon catheter used during his angioplasty procedure. Though Riegel was seriously injured at the negligent hands of Medtronic, the court found that Federal regulations overruled state law, rather than the two working in tandem as it had been before.

The repercussions of this decision have yet to take their full effect. As Public Citizen lawyer Allison Zieve noted, “The possibility of being held liable for injuries their products cause creates an invaluable incentive for manufacturers to make their products as safe as they can, to revise labels… and to remove unsafe products from the market.”

Luckily, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen is working to remedy this gaping hole in consumer protection. With the support of Representatives Henry Waxman and Frank Palone, and Senators Ted Kennedy and Patrick Leahy, they are trying to push through the Medical Device Safety Act of 2008. This new legislation would nullify the implications of the Supreme Court ruling, and give power back to the injured.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Balloon Catheters, Medical Device, Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.