Saturday, March 06, 1999
Pacemaker recipients will be monitored
Thousands live with fear of wire hazard
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Not long after he had a pacemaker implanted on his heart, Harold Bechert got a call from his doctor.
The doctor told the Kenwood man that his new pacemaker was defective and could malfunction at any time.
“It's been a concern ever since,” Mr. Bechert said. “You always sit back and think, "When is mine going to pop?'”
Mr. Bechert, 85, said he finally received some peace of mind Friday when a federal judge approved a nearly $70 million settlement with the manufacturer of the pacemaker.
The agreement in U.S. District Court will provide two free medical exams a year for Mr. Bechert and thousands of others who still rely on the pacemakers to regulate their heartbeats.
About 12,000 people worldwide have the pacemakers and another 8,000 have had them removed.
Under terms of the settlement, all 20,000 will receive some compensation and a lifetime of medical monitoring.
“It's been traumatic,” said Mr. Bechert, whose pacemaker was implanted about 10 years ago. “It may never go, and it may happen tomorrow.”
The lawsuit alleged that the pacemakers contained metal wires that could break free of their plastic coatings and pierce the heart.
Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley, who was lead counsel in the class-action case, said the $70 million settlement could grow by another $20 million.
He said he expects the additional funds to be released when pending issues are resolved with the U.S. Food and Drug Administra tion.
The Colorado-based manufacturer, Telectronics Pacing Systems, is now out of business and will turn over all of its assets as part of the settlement.
Richard Wayne, who worked on the case with Mr. Chesley, said the threat of bankruptcy by the company created a sense of urgency during settlement negotiations.
“We were concerned that a great deal of the assets would be consumed by the costs of a bankruptcy proceeding,” Mr. Wayne said.
“The fear was there would be nothing left.”
The settlement, which pays attorneys a total of about $17 million, creates a patient benefit fund to provide two medical exams a year to everyone who has the defective pacemaker.
It also provides up to $100,000 to anyone injured by the device and up to $1 million to the families of patients whose deaths have been attributed to the pacemaker.
Mr. Chesley said only two deaths have been directly linked to the pacemaker. His lawsuit, however, said that hundreds more have experienced problems that forced them to undergo surgery to remove the device.
A non-binding summary jury trial was held last year so both sides could evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their respective cases. After the jury found the manufacturer negligent, settlement talks began.
In his ruling Friday, Judge S. Arthur Spiegel described the settlement as fair to all parties.
He said it ensures that the patients, most of whom are 78 or older, would not have to invest the time and expense needed to individually pursue their claims against the company.
“Time is of the essence,” the judge wrote in his decision. “Protracted litigation creates a risk that many class members may not see the fruits of any judgment in their lifetimes.”
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