“A DaVita Granuflo Lawsuit Can Help Bring Justice”

Waltham, MAThe DaVita and Fresenius lawsuits are increasing as plaintiffs realize their mothers or fathers may have died at a DaVita Dialysis Center because of Granuflo and Naturalyte products. Add another Granuflo class-action lawsuit to the 161 actions pending (as of May 14, 2013) in the Granuflo/Naturalyte multi-district litigation (MDL) for the District of Massachusetts.

The latest class-action lawsuit (June 14, 2013) was filed by a woman claiming her husband’s use of Granuflo, manufactured by Fresenius Medical Care and used at DaVita Dialysis Center, caused his death. The lawsuit alleges that Fresenius was not forthcoming regarding the connection between Granuflo and heart attacks from patients and other individuals.

Robin’s mother is one of the lucky ones. “My mom goes to dialysis at the Fresenius center in Lithonia, Georgia,” he says. “Last month she was hooked up to the dialysis machine when she had a stroke and had to be hospitalized for two days. We didn't find out that it was a stroke until she got to the hospital. My mother told me that when she was on the dialysis machine her mouth got numb and she told the nurse but the nurse more or less ignored her, saying she had other patients to tend to.”

Anne says that her mother had a dialysis treatment at a DaVita center one Friday in May and by evening complained that she wasn’t feeling well. “My mother suffered a heart attack on the Sunday and passed away,” says Anne. “I've always believed there was negligence involved, and then I read about the Granuflo recall. I am her only daughter and I want something done about this. I know it can’t bring her back but a DaVita GranuFlo lawsuit can help bring justice.”

Anita’s mother went into cardiac arrest and died in August 2011, after having dialysis where Naturalyte was used. Like Anne, Anita wants justice served. “I’m appalled that Fresnius knew their dialysis patients could suffer injury or death caused by their Granuflo and NaturaLyte products. Now that I have researched DaVita and Fresnius, I am convinced they caused my mother’s death.”

“My mother had a perfectly strong heart but died three years ago from massive heart failure after being a dialysis patient at Fresenius clinics for a couple of years,” says Cindy.

As the women above indicate, the main cause of death for dialysis patients associated with DaVita GranuFlo Medical Centers is related to cardiovascular problems, yet the medical community didn’t associate heart issues with dialysis treatments until 2009.

Lawsuits allege that Fresenius and DaVita clinics knew about Granuflo heart issues in 2010: an internal study, which was based on data of more than 900 patients who had died at Fresenius centers, showed that cardiac arrest was significantly increased with GranuFlo. Fresnius chose not to reveal the study to the FDA or the public until a memo was leaked to the FDA in 2012, which led to the FDA safety recall initiated in March 2012.