Medtronic to Settle Defibrillator Suits for $114.1 Million

A Minneapolis StarTribune article by Janet Moore today notes that on Friday, Medtronic Inc. said that it had reached a $95.6 million settlement of 2,682 lawsuits filed by patients who sued following a 2005 safety recall of one of the company's heart defibrillators.  The total settlement, with the addition of $18.5 million in attorney's fees, is $114.1 million.  The suits stemmed from the February 2005 recall of 87,000 Marquis implantable cardioverter defibrillators after the failure of batteries in a small number of the devices.  The suits were consolidated in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.  Medtronic did not admit liability in the case.

MKS