The devices in question were distributed from August 12, 2021-May 17, 2022. The recall started on July 10, 2022, because clinicians reported incidents involving fast flow. The risk with a flow that is faster than expected is that you could receive too much medication at once. The result may be hematologic toxicity of neurotoxicity, both of which could result in death. When the medication flows out at too fast a rate, you could also run out of medication before the refill happens. This can also lead to adverse consequences such as disease progression or death. While incidents have been reported, neither death nor injuries have been yet.
The recall is important for those patients who received infused medication using the pump, along with health care staff at hospitals or other medical practices that utilize infusion pumps for patient care. Intera Oncology has written to customers, typically clinicians, and asked them to continue to monitor flow rates and for liver toxicity to adjust the dosing. They have suggested bringing patients in for medication refills and for verification of flow rate earlier than every two weeks when a pump seem to flow over 15% beyond what is specified. Customers are supposed to flush bolus pathways with saline using a specific needle.
While this is helpful to prevent injury, what if you were already injured by an infusion pump made by Intera Oncology or another manufacturer? You may be able to recover damages for economic and noneconomic losses arising out of your injuries through a product liability lawsuit.
Bringing a Product Liability LawsuitProduct liability lawsuits may be brought against a manufacturer when a product is defective in terms of its design, marketing, or manufacturing. In this case, it appears that there is a manufacturing or design defect in these pumps. Generally design flaws are those flaws that occur in every unit of the product in question. Manufacturing defects occur when a product is not made to its specification and tend to affect just one in one batch of units or even a single units.
If our lawyers can establish liability, we may be able to recover economic and noneconomic damages arising out of a defective pump. These could include medical bills, lost wages, out-of-pocket expenses, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and replacement services. The particular harms you suffered will inform the nature and quantity of damages you can recover.
Consult an Experienced Chicago Infusion Pump AttorneyIf you or a loved one were harmed by a defective infusion pump, you should call the seasoned Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group about recovering damages. Our firm represents clients across the country, and billions have been recovered in product liability lawsuits with which we’ve been involved. Please complete our online form or contact us at 312.462.1700 if you suspect you may have a product liability claim.