The Wall Street Journal reported today, that Medtronic has agreed to pay $268 million to settle the thousands of personal-injury cases that have been brought against it on account of its fracture-prone “Sprint Fidelis” cables. The malfunctioning devices are used do connect patient’s hearts to implantable defibrillators. According to an independent monitoring board, the devices may have been linked to 13 deaths (4 of which were caused by attempts to remove the problem devices: a dangerous procedure).

There are still many details to work out in the settlement. Attorneys representing the clients in the 8,100 cases will have to decide how to divide the money Medtronic has made available. Plaintiffs can also choose not to participate in the settlement and proceed with their suit against the company, however it is unlikely that many will choose to do so,  since a Federal district judge in Minneapolis threw out a representative sample of cases last year, and his ruling seems to apply to all cases against Medtronic. Most attorneys will likely put their client’s cases before a committee that will decide their compensation value.

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