Settlement of Canada-wide Class Action Regarding Certain St. Jude Defibrillators

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The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has approved a $5 million settlement of a national class action brought against St. Jude Medical, Inc. and St. Jude Medical Canada, Inc. The class action relates to certain models of implantable cardiac defibrillators or cardiac resynchronization therapy devices manufactured between January 2010 and May 23, 2015 under the brand names Fortify, Fortify Assura, Quadra Assura, Unify, Unify Assura, and Unify Quadra.  The class action alleges that the battery in these defibrillators has the potential to form lithium clusters, which may result in rapid, premature depletion of the battery in a very small number of cases.

There are approximately 8,900 individuals in Canada who were implanted with the potentially affected devices.

Under the terms of the settlement, any person in Canada who was implanted with one of the affected devices may make a claim for compensation.  The amount of compensation to which the class member will be entitled will depend upon a number of factors including the date of the implant, whether and when the device was replaced, and the reasons for the replacement.

Certain close family relations may also make a claim for death benefits in the event that they can establish that the cause of death was premature battery depletion.  More specifically, the family member must show that: (1) the battery depletion occurred earlier than expected based on the defibrillator usage, and (2) there was no indication that the depletion was related to a cause other than a short circuit that may have been due to the formation of lithium clusters.

Both implanted persons and their close family members may also make claims for out of pocket expenses incurred as a result of the explant procedure or arising from the Advisory.

Details of the settlement can be found at: www.stjudeicdclaim.ca or at: https://waddellphillips.ca/class-actions/st-jude-defibrillator-class-action/.


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