Lead and Liaison Counsel Appointed for 3T Heater-Cooler MDL

Lead and Liaison Counsel Appointed for 3T Heater-Cooler MDL

Introduction

The U.S.District Judge presiding over the 3T Heater-Cooler Systems pre-trial proceedings appointed a group of plaintiffs' attorneys to exhibit various leadership roles in taking the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) forward.

The case management order issued by Judge Jones on May 31, stated one attorney should serve as lead and liaison counsel and an executive committee comprising six additional attorneys be made for taking timely actions during the litigation proceedings. However, each individual plaintiff’s own lawyer will be liable for deadlines and establish causation in the separate cases.

Stockert Heater-Cooler System (3T) is manufactured by LivaNova PLC (formerly Sorin Group Deutschland GmbH) and provides temperature-controlled water to heat exchanger devices (cardiopulmonary bypass heat exchangers, cardioplegia heat exchangers, and thermal regulating blankets) to warm or cool a patient during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures lasting six (6) hours or less. It is a Class II medical device that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) via a 510K process in 2006. It is also called Sorin 3T.

Product liability cases continue to be reviewed by lawyers for open-heart surgery patients who suffered nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) infections due to exposure to infected 3T Heater-Coolers. Similar cases filed throughout the federal court system have been centralized under multidistrict litigation MDL No. 2816 (In Re: Sorin 3T Heater-Cooler System Products Liability Litigation No. II), before U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.