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Granuflo Lawsuit News: A Tangled Web

It's no secret that tort (personal injury) cases are often complicated – even though this is a subject studied by every first-year law student. It doesn't help when a manufacturer is involved in litigation with a competitor that is using its own defective product. 

Recently, one of the firm's attorneys posted an article online about lawsuits against DaVita Healthcare, a company that operates dialysis clinics across the country – and uses products manufactured by Fresenius, namely the dialysates known assis drugs Granuflo and NaturalLyte, both of which have allegedly caused death from heart attacks in numerous patients. The twist is that Fresenius also operates dialysis clinics, in competition with its own customer, DaVita.  Over a year ago, Fresenius filed a lawsuit against the  Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board  because it allowed competing clinmics – such as DaVita  - to operate on what the plaintiff (Fresenius) considered its own corporate “turf.”

Earlier this year, a Colorado judge dismissed Granuflo lawsuits against DaVita Healthcare over Granuflo on grounds that the defendant was not the manufacturer of the product that caused the injuries – but left the door open for future lawsuits against DaVita under that state's Consumer Protection Laws. 

Might DaVita also have cause to file a Granuflo lawsuit against the manufacturer?

According to internal memos issued at Fresenius about three years ago (November 2011), the dangers associated with the drug were known. However, Fresenius shared this information only among its own network of clinics. Its customers, including DaVita, were told nothing. The reasons? The “findings” on the dangers of Granuflo were “too preliminary” to warrant publication in a medical journal, and publishing such findings would have “taken too long.” There is also some speculation among members of the legal community involved in Granuflo lawsuits that Fresenius withheld the information because of the relationship with competitors that were also customers for the product. 

It all adds up to a convoluted web of litigation that could take a long time, and more than one lawsuit months, if not years, to sort out. 

If you or a family member have been harmed during dialysis, contact our offices at the earliest opportunity in order to learn about your rights as a potential plaintiff in a Granuflo lawsuit.

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