A Terrebonne Parish woman and her adult children are suing a California-based medical device manufacturer, alleging negligence, manufacturing defect, strict liability, and breach of warranty following a medical injury originating in a 2011 procedure.
Judy Garcia, Angel Goens, Monique Barrilleaux, and Ivy Francis Jr. sued Allergan USA Inc., doing business in Louisiana, in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana on July 24 on charges concerning Garcia’s 2014 surgical complication resulting from a supposedly defective product implanted in the plaintiff in May of 2011.
Garcia, of Schriever, and her adult children charge the defendant with negligence in the manufacture of their LAP-BAND system. According to the complaint, Garcia experienced symptoms of device failure after she underwent LAP-BAND surgery on or about May 20, 2011, including weight gain, abdominal pain and elevated white blood cell count.
The suit states that a gastroscopy on or about July 29, 2014, revealed that the lap band had disintegrated and lodged in Garcia’s esophagus, abdomen and elsewhere. According to the suit, she had to be placed into an induced coma for nine days due to surgical complications; and remained in the hospital for almost two months with infection and pneumonia.
The plaintiffs aver damages due to loss of consortium with their mother as a direct result of the defective product.
Requesting more than $75,000 in damages plus interest, attorney’s fees, expenses and court costs, the plaintiffs are represented by Kristi Louque of K. Louque Law Firm and David Schexnaydre of Schexnaydre Law Firm, both in Mandeville, La.
U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana Case 2:15-cv-02920-LMA-MBN