Taylor v. Medtronics, Inc.
| Decision Date | 22 November 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-3069,88-3069 |
| Parties | , Prod.Liab.Rep.(CCH)P 11,979 Jessica S. TAYLOR, minor; Pamela J. Taylor; and Richard Taylor, Plaintiffs- Appellants, v. MEDTRONICS, INC., Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Wilbur C. Jacobs (argued), Toledo, Ohio, for plaintiffs-appellants.
David M. Jones (argued), Eastman & Smith, Toledo, Ohio, for defendant-appellee.
Before KEITH, GUY and NORRIS, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiffs, Richard and Pamela Taylor, filed suit on behalf of their infant daughter, Jessica S. Taylor, alleging that the pacemaker system which had been implanted in Jessica was defective. The complaint named both the manufacturer of the pacemaker, Pacesetters Systems, Inc., and the manufacturer of the lead wires which connected the pacemaker to Jessica's heart, Medtronics, Inc. The complaint alleged that the first pacemaker would not operate properly and therefore had to be replaced within a year of the original implantation. Despite repeated attempts, defendants were unable to schedule a deposition of the plaintiffs' expert witness so the defendants filed a motion with the district court seeking an order to compel discovery. Defendants also requested the imposition of sanctions against plaintiffs' counsel. The court initially declined to grant the motion for sanctions; however, after the plaintiffs' counsel repeatedly failed to comply with the court's orders, the court granted defendants' motion for sanctions and ordered that the affidavit of plaintiffs' expert witness be stricken from the record. The court also granted defendant Pacesetters' motion for summary judgment finding no issue of material fact in the absence of any expert opinion which would support plaintiffs' claims. The court also vacated its previous denial of a summary judgment motion and entered summary judgment in favor of defendant Medtronics. The district court denied plaintiffs' motion to reconsider and plaintiffs appealed to this court. For the following reasons, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion by imposing sanctions in response to the plaintiffs' counsel's disregard of the district court's discovery orders. Furthermore, we find that the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, since there was no genuine issue of material fact and the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
At the age of nineteen months, Jessica Taylor began to suffer from loss of consciousness. Upon admission to the hospital, it was determined that the symptoms were the result of an irregular heartbeat and she underwent emergency surgery for the implantation of a pacemaker device which would artificially regulate the beating of her heart. The surgeon, Dr. J. Terrance Davis, attached two separate wires (leads) to the outer surface of Jessica's heart. The leads, designated Model 4951, were manufactured by defendant Medtronics. Leads conduct electrical pulses from the "pacemaker" or "pulse generator" to the heart muscle. The leads also conduct the heart's natural electrical current, the "R-wave," back to the pulse generator. A disruption in the normal R-wave pattern causes the pulse generator to fire, thereby artificially stimulating the heart muscle. All of the leads attached to Jessica's heart were connected to a pulse generator that was inserted into her abdomen. The pulse generator was manufactured by defendant Pacesetters.
Initially, the operation appeared to be successful. Within a year, however, Jessica again began to experience blackouts caused by an irregular heartbeat. Consequently, in October, 1983, Dr. Davis removed the pulse generator from Jessica's abdomen and replaced it with a unipolar (single-wire) generator. The remaining lead was "capped off."
On March 4, 1985, plaintiffs filed a complaint against Pacesetters System, Inc., and Medtronics, Inc., alleging that the leads and the pulse generator which were implanted in Jessica's body in October, 1982, were defective. Plaintiffs requested $3.5 million in compensatory damages and an additional $3 million in punitive damages.
On February 4, 1987, defendant Medtronics filed a motion for summary judgment, based on Dr. Davis's deposition and on an affidavit of a cardiology expert, Dr. Robert G. Hauser. Dr. Hauser's affidavit concluded that Jessica's problems were solely attributable to a "lead-tissue interface anomaly" which was not caused by either the pulse generator or the Medtronics' leads. The lead-tissue interface anomaly is a condition which develops in the heart tissue surrounding the connection to the lead wire and inhibits the passage of the low-voltage R-waves from the heart tissue into the lead wire. Because the pulse generator was not receiving the low voltage R-waves, the pulse generator "thought" that Jessica's heart was not beating on its own and therefore sent unnecessary pulsing signals to her heart. According to Dr. Hauser, lead tissue interface anomaly is a well-known complication of permanent cardiac pacing, especially in cases involving younger children. Dr. Davis testified in his deposition that he conducted electrical testing of the two Medtronics' leads at the time he replaced the pulse generator in Jessica's abdomen. As a result of those tests, he determined that the wire was not broken, that there was no break in the insulation, and that the leads themselves were functioning properly. Therefore, he concluded that Jessica's pacing problems were attributable to a lead-tissue interface anomaly at one of the connections to the heart. Furthermore, Dr. Davis testified that, because this anomaly is not uncommon, he routinely installs two leads so that, in the event of such a problem, he can easily "cap" one lead and change the system to a one-lead (unipolar) system. This is the procedure which he followed in Jessica's case, and he testified that, to his knowledge, Jessica has not suffered any further problems attributable to the pacing system.
On February 10, 1987, defendant Pacesetters filed a renewed and supplemental motion for summary judgment based on the opinions of Dr. Davis and Dr. Hauser and other experts who also concluded that Jessica's previous problems were attributable to a lead-tissue interface anomaly problem. The court granted plaintiffs two extensions of time within which to file their opposition to defendants' motions for summary judgment. On April 20, 1987, plaintiffs filed their brief in opposition. The plaintiffs' brief included the affidavit of Dr. Barry Feinberg who testified that, in his opinion, "[t]he preponderance of evidence contained in the medical records and ECG-rhythm strips indicated conclusively that the pacing system failed...." On June 12, 1987, the court denied the motion of defendant Medtronics for summary judgment "because Dr. Feinberg's report raises triable issues of fact." The court reserved judgment on Pacesetters' summary judgment motion in order to allow Pacesetters time to file a reply to the plaintiffs' opposition brief. On August 25, 1987, the court set a trial date for January 26, 1988, and a discovery cut-off date of December 15, 1987.
On September 24, 1987, defendant Pacesetters filed a motion seeking an order to compel plaintiffs to set three dates for testing the pulse generator and three dates for the taking of the deposition of Dr. Feinberg. The motion recited that Pacesetters' counsel and counsel for plaintiffs had been unable to reach an agreement on the dates even though plaintiffs' counsel had promised as early as April of 1987 to produce Dr. Feinberg for deposition. In addition to its motion to compel discovery, defendant Pacesetters also moved for sanctions, arguing that the dilatory responses by plaintiffs' counsel to the defendants' discovery requests were part of an intentional plan to delay the proceedings and thereby increase the cost of litigation to the defendants.
The court declined to grant Pacesetters' motion for sanctions; however, on October 1, 1987, the court issued a brief order requiring the plaintiffs to respond to defendants' discovery requests. Specifically, the order stated that plaintiffs were to identify three testing dates between October 1 and October 14, 1987, as well as three deposition dates between October 14 and October 23, 1987. In addition, the order contained a warning that a failure to comply would result in the imposition of sanctions.
In response to the court's order of October 1, 1987, plaintiffs' counsel moved for a two-week extension of the deadlines. Among the reasons given for the request were that counsel for plaintiffs was going on vacation to see his grandchild. On October 7, 1987, the district court granted the plaintiffs' motion for a two-week extension. On October 19, 1987, defendant Pacesetters filed a motion to prohibit Dr. Feinberg from testifying at trial and striking his affidavit because plaintiffs had still not provided defendants with three dates for the testing of the pacemaker and the deposition of Dr. Feinberg. On October 22, 1987, Medtronics filed a motion to compel plaintiffs to make Dr. Feinberg available for deposition in accordance with the previous court order. On November 2, 1987, the district court issued an order awarding defendants attorney's fees and costs incurred in obtaining the order. The November 2, 1987, order also ordered plaintiffs to identify three testing dates between November 12, 1987, and November 25, 1987, and further ordered plaintiffs to identify three dates between November 16, 1987, and November 30, 1987, on which Dr. Feinberg could be deposed. With respect to the defendants' request for further sanctions, the court stated:
Defendant has also requested that the affidavit of Dr. Feinberg be stricken and that plaintiffs be prohibited from introducing any expert testimony in support of their claims at trial. However, due to the...
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