Supreme Court to hear medical device case

Washington -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case regarding patients' ability to pursue product-liability lawsuits against medical-device makers.

Justices agreed Monday to hear an appeal by a New York man who said he suffered permanent injury when a Medtronic-made catheter burst during an angioplasty procedure, the (St. Paul, Minn.) Pioneer Press reported Tuesday.

Medtronic Inc., based in Minnesota, responded it no longer manufactures the particular catheter and argued the patient's physician didn't follow the instructions for the product. A lower court ruled Medtronic couldn't be sued because the U.S. Food and Drug administration cleared the product for sale.

The case will be heard in the court's next term, which begins in October.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.