A lawsuit against Marlborough medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific Corp., alleging the company’s complacency in the death of a 59-year-old South Carolina man, has been transferred to the U.S. District Court for Western New York.
The lawsuit, filed by Connie Poulin of Ellicottville, N.Y., alleges a defect in one of Boston’s Scientific’s products, namely its Greenfield Vena Cava Filter, contributed to the death of her husband, David Poulin, who died of a heart attack in June 2020 in South Carolina.
David Poulin had surgery to repair an achilles tendon in 1999, and shortly thereafter had the Boston Scientific filter surgically placed in his inferior vena cava, a large vein carrying blood from the lower half of the body into the heart. An autopsy after Poulin’s death in 2020 showed the filter had pierced a hole in the vein causing blood clotting, which contributed to his death, according to the lawsuit
“Boston Scientific Corp. negligently, recklessly, wantonly, and carelessly failed to properly design and manufacture its Greenfield IVC Filter implanted in Plaintiffs’ decedent, David Poulin, and was negligent in failing to exercise reasonable care in designing and manufacturing and selling of the Greenfield IVC filter such that it would be reasonably safe for its intended or foreseeable use,” the lawsuit states.
The case was originally filed in Chautauqua County New York Supreme Court. Boston Scientific is being represented by Chicago-based law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson, while Poulin is represented by New York firm Collins & Collins and Washington D.C.-based Cuneo Gilbert & Laduca.
