A user of the cochlear ear device has won a case against the device’s manufacturer, Advance Bionics, taking home $7.25 million in damages after suffering injuries from a short circuit, reports courier-journal.com.
Breanna Sadler, a resident of Vine Grove, Ky, was born deaf and had the cochlear ear device implanted in her head in 2006 at the age of 4. In 2010 however, at the age of 8, Sadler suffered a severe electric shock from the device that left her shuddering and vomiting on the ground. She suffered two more shocks before undergoing an open-head surgery to remove the faulty device and replace it with a competitor’s model; a surgery that lasted longer than seven hours. Breanna Sadler Awarded $7.25 Million in Cochlear Case
Sadler’s parents filed a legal case against the device’s manufacturer, Advance Bionics of Valencia, Calif., arguing that the company knew of cochlear’s defects but hid the information in order to sell a higher number of devices to reap the financial benefits when the company was sold. The U.S. District Court jury awarded now 11-year-old Sadler, along with her parents, $7.25 million in damages.
While this is the first high profile case involving the cochlear device, others will inevitable follow as around 40 lawsuits have been filed across the country. The jury in Sadler’s case decided that Advance Bionics ought to pay for punitive damages in the area of $6.25 million for their reckless disregard of user safety, and found that the device was defective, unreasonably dangerous and negligently designed.
Of the estimated 4,000 total cochlear devices that have been inserted in patients around the world, about a quarter of them have failed, according to the lead plaintiff’s council.
For more information on the Cochlear Implant and how it works, click here.
If you have suffered as a result of the cochlear device, consider filing a personal injury claim with the help of an attorney. You can contact the personal injury lawyer at Parrish Law Firm, PLLC via phone at 703-906-4229 or fill out a free case consultation form.
Call or Text 571-229-1800 or Complete a Free Case Evaluation form
