Detroit, MI - /PRNewswire/ -- A Michigan Army veteran, possibly Michigan's first confirmed case amid a national tuberculosis (TB) outbreak following surgery using biotechnology company Aziyo's now recalled putty-like bone-graft product, is jointly represented by 2 nationally recognized legal teams.
The legal teams are Morris James and Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky. The nationally recognized injury firms, which filed the first lawsuit resulting from the 20-state outbreak, now represent one dozen TB-infected, post-surgical patients across five states and expect the Michigan man's complaint to soon be filed against Aziyo Biologics, Inc., and Medtronic, Inc., the exclusive U.S. distributor of the "regenerative medicine" compound marketed as FiberCel Viable Bone Matrix (VBM), used in spinal and orthopedic surgeries to promote bone growth.
Attorneys from the legal team are now in the Detroit area as part of their pre-lawsuit investigation. That includes extensive meetings with the client, a father of three, review of his comprehensive medical records, and learning as much as possible about how a long awaited "routine" surgical procedure to "improve his quality of life turned into the worst experience imaginable that has permanently scarred him physically and emotionally."
Morris James attorneys Keith Donovan and Michael Owen, whose firm is headquartered in Delaware, stated, "Our client is in a state of shock after being told – well after his operation – that everything went fine with the exception of contracting highly contagious TB, linked to Aziyo's contaminated FiberCel product. Not only is he now a candidate for corrective surgery that includes removing and replacing the diseased bone-graft implant, but he is undergoing aggressive, lengthy treatment for TB."
Attorney Lawrence R. Cohan, who heads Saltz Mongeluzzi's toxic tort practice, said the Michigan Army vet is very clear about what he wants from the lawyers. "He told us in no uncertain terms to do everything we can to find out what happened, including how he and perhaps more than 100 others, were infected with TB from bone tissue harvested from an untested cadaver. He wants to help others through his legal action avoid the pain and suffering that torment him daily."
Besides Delaware and Michigan, the lawyers represent infected clients in Florida, Maryland and Indiana.