Medtronic settles thousands of court cases for $268 million

Medtronic Inc. said Thursday that it has agreed to pay $268 million to settle thousands of lingering lawsuits that stem from the 2007 recall of a heart defibrillator wire.

Hundreds of claims filed by patients who were implanted with Medtronic's Sprint Fidelis lead or by family members of patients were consolidated into one case in U.S. District Court in Minnesota. The settlement also covers complaints pending in state courts and will result in the dismissal of appeals pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Medtronic said about 8,100 personal injury cases were filed.

In short, the settlement covers resolution of all U.S. claims.

In a statement, Medtronic spokesman Christopher Garland said "Medtronic is pleased it was able to negotiate terms that were mutually agreeable to the parties."

Dan Gustafson, one of the lead attorneys in the case representing patients, said he was "very pleased with the settlement. It provides significant compensation for people injured by these heart leads."

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators are stopwatch-sized devices that shock an errantly beating heart back into rhythm. The device is connected to the heart with one or a series of wires called leads.

The Fridley-based company's popular Sprint Fidelis lead was implanted in some 235,000 people when it was recalled in October 2007 because a small number were found to fracture. The malfunction could cause the device to stop working or inappropriately shock patients -- a frightening and uncomfortable experience, but usually not life-threatening.

Medtronic said the majority of the deaths were related to the difficult surgery to remove the lead from the body. At the time of the recall, patients were advised by Medtronic to keep the leads intact in the body once disconnected from the device.

Several hundred patients sued the company in federal and state courts after the recall. But the legal cases were complicated by a 2008 Supreme Court decision involving Medtronic that curtailed aggrieved patients from suing medical device companies if their product malfunctioned.

Cases that were filed in federal and state courts were dismissed because of the Supreme Court decision, but subsequently appealed. Appeals were pending before the federal Court of Appeals, as well as the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Charles Zimmerman, a Minneapolis attorney who represented patients, said the settlement sets aside funds not only for people who have been injured by the Sprint Fidelis lead, but those who may be injured in the future.

Medtronic said in a news release that the settlement will result in a special charge in its second fiscal quarter, which ends Oct. 29. In mid-morning trading, Medtronic shares were down less than 1 percent at about $33.27.