Re: Bridget Robb


"Claudine Homolash" <chomolash@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e12a3caf-6be0-4621-9c2a-68501aba058a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I am Bridget Robb's lawyer. On June 11, 2008, I had the pleasure of
accompanying Bridget Robb to Washington, D.C. to testify before the
Senate Judiciary Committee, at a hearing entitled ?Short-change for
Consumers and Short-Shrift for Congress? The Supreme Court?s Treatment
of Laws that Protect Americans? Health, Safety, Jobs and Retirement.?
Senator Patrick Leahy (D, Vt.) presided over the hearing. Witness
testimony and the live hearing can be viewed at
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=3404

Ms. Robb courageously spoke about her harrowing experience with a
Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead in late 2007. Ms. Robb was shocked 31
times due to the defective cardiac lead, which had been recalled two
months before her tragic incident. She never received notice of the
recall. She described each shock as ?if a cannon was being repeatedly
shot at [her] chest at close range.? The event was made all the more
terrible because our client?s telephone call to 911 was captured on
tape, and the pain and agony of the numerous shocks is evident
throughout the 7-minute call, which took place in the presence of her
young child. Her experience was featured in a Good Morning America
segment that ran on Wednesday morning before the hearing, which can
also be viewed on the web at
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=5044693&page=1

The hearing focused on how several recent decisions by the U.S.
Supreme Court affected consumers? health and safety, including
preemption and ERISA.

Senator Leahy stated that he ?called this hearing today to shine a
light on how the Supreme Court?s decisions affect Americans? everyday
lives. Often, the Court?s rulings come into focus when they involve
divisive cultural issues. Lately, however, many Court observers have
noticed that business interests have been the big winners, over
workers and consumers. In this worsening economy, mothers and fathers
are struggling with health care coverage, the uncertainty of
retirement, credit card payments and mortgages. Congress has passed
laws to protect Americans in these areas, but in many cases, the
Supreme Court has ignored the intent of Congress in passing these
measures, oftentimes turning these laws on their heads, and making
them protections for big business rather than for ordinary citizens.?
During the hearing, Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.) also spoke out
forcefully on the failings of the FDA, calling the FDA "a joke."

Also testifying was Maureen Kurtek, a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
resident, who offered personal testimony about how a recent ruling by
the Supreme Court relating to ERISA preemption limited her right as a
consumer to seek recovery for harmful practices by an HMO. Other
witnesses include Andy Anderson, a lawyer with the law firm of Morgan,
Lewis & Bockius LLP; Thomas O. McGarity, a law professor at the
University of Texas School of Law; Richard M. Cooper, a partner with
the law firm of Williams & Connolly LLP; and Robert Lawless, a law
professor at the University of Illinois College of Law.

This hearing helped shed light on the profound effect that the
failures of the Food & Drug Administration have on consumers, like Ms.
Robb.

I am happy to answer any questions regarding the hearing or the
recalled Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead. Please contact me at (215)
790-7379 with any questions or to discuss your potential case. It is
important that the horrible tragedy Ms. Robb experienced does not
happen to others.
----


Just because a machine is approved in theory by the FDA does NOT mean that
manufacturing defects do not become a problem LATER.



.

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