Baxter won't sue 3M over dialysis deaths
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Benno Groeneveld Web Reporter
Baxter International Inc. won't sue Maplewood-based 3M Co. for producing a fluid used to test Baxter kidney dialysis products and will not hold 3M responsible for deaths that might have been caused by the fluid.
The filters in the machines made by Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter were cleaned with the 3M fluid. Regulators have said the fluid left a residue that might be linked to deaths of some 56 patients around the globe who were treated with the Baxter machines. The company has since stopped using the 3M fluid and has recalled the dialysis machines.
"The reality is that it is our product and it is our responsibility," Baxter spokesperson Sally Benjamin Young quoted CEO Harry Kraemer as saying.
Baxter recently agreed to pay $2.9 million to the families of ten patients in Spain who died after being treated with Baxter equipment. The company is expected to try to conclude other settlements as soon as possible.
Baxter has already been taken to court by attorneys on behalf of some of the victims. Baxter may have promised not to sue 3M, but 3M has reportedly been named as a co-defendant in at least one suit filed in Chicago on behalf of victims.
Benno Groeneveld can be reached at (612) 288-2101 or bgroeneveld@bizjournals.com
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