Thoratec® Recall Lawsuit Investigation

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Thoratec® Corporation, in association with the FDA has issued an urgent Class 1 recall of the Thoratec® TLC-II® Portable Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) and Thoratec® Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist System, (PVAD).

Class 1 recalls are the most serious type of recall and involve situations in which there is a reasonable probability that use of the product will cause serious injury or death.

If you or a loved one have been affected by the Thoratec recall and/or experienced cardiac device malfunctions, failure or injury, you should contact us immediately. You may be entitled to compensation and we can help.

What is the problem?

June 2007 - TLC-II® Portable Ventricular Assist Device Recall: In June 2007, Thoratec issued an urgent nationwide recall of its popular TLC-II® Portable Ventricular Assist Device or VAD.

VAD support for the patient’s circulatory system may fail. The VAD driver may stop due to earlier than expected wear-out of the compressor motor (much less than the expected 3000 hours). The compressor motor can stop without warning. When the motor fails, there is a loss of VAD support for the patient. This results in inadequate blood flow to and from the heart.

March 2007 - Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist System Recall: In March 2007, Thoratec issued an urgent nationwide recall of its popular Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist System or PVAD.

The PVAD may contain a black collet (circular rim) that holds a rod-like piece in place (nut). This black collet and nut was intended to be used with a cannula (a small tube) of an older design that had a larger diameter. If this black collet and nut is used with the current design of cannula that has a smaller diameter, it can disconnect during use. The blood is pumped from the VAD through the cannula into the patient. (The black collet is similar to how a washer works with a nut. It is called a black collet because the collet and matching nut are painted black for easy identification).

Thoratec Recall List

• Thoratec® TLC-II® Portable Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Driver, Catalog Number 20010-0000-032.

• Thoratec® Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist System, (PVAD) Model TLC-II®, Catalog No. 14086-2550-000, manufactured from January 1, 2004 through October 2, 2006, and with expiration dates of January, 2007 to October, 2009.

Do I have a Thoratec Recall Lawsuit?

The Medical Device and Product Liability Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus exclusively on the representation of plaintiffs in medical device recall lawsuits. We are currently investigating the possibility of handling individual Thoratec recall litigation nationwide and currently accepting new Thoratec recall claims.

Attention Attorneys: We do not publish prior verdict/settlements. If you are an attorney and would like to refer us a case or for us to send you a profile of prior award judgments or average referral fees, please visit the attorney referral section of our website.

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Thoratec Recall News (National)

Health Highlights: April 22, 2008 (HealthDay via Yahoo! News) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay: