Thursday, April 18, 2013

More on the $7.5 million award to 11-year-old implant user

We reported to you yesterday about a Kentucky jury verdict that gave 11-year-old Breanna Sadler $7.25 million. Her defective cochlear implant gave her electric shocks. Here's more about Breanna. Born deaf, she got her implant 6 years ago, when she was just four years old. When she was eight years old, a severe shook from the device sent her into convulsions. The shocks continued until the Advance Bionics implant was removed. And several dozen more lawsuits are coming because the failure rate of the HiRes 90K model is about one in four, according to lawyers for the Sadler family. The payout was high because there was evidence that the company didn't disclose problems with the model until after the company was sold. Advance Bionics denied this happened and while it "respects the jury (it) disagrees with (the) verdict, particularly with respect to punitive damages." The company said the problem was with a supplier. The company has already paid a million dollar fine for failing to tell the FDA about the new supplier.