People who uderwent open heart surgery in Quebec after November 1, 2011

The plaintiff has filed an Application for authorization to institute a class action and to be a representative on behalf of the following class:

All persons who underwent open heart surgery at one of the following facilities after November 1, 2011:

• – Centre hospitalier universitaire de Montréal (CHUM);
  • – Hôtel-Dieu Hospital;
  • – Notre-Dame Hospital;
• – Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine (HSJ);
• – Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS);
• – McGill University Healt Center (MUHC);
  • – Montreal General Hospital;
  • – Royal Victoria Hospital;
  • – Montreal Children’s Hospital;
• – CHU de Québec – Université Laval;
  • – Centre hospitalier de l’Université Laval (CHUL);
• – Chicoutimi Hospital;
• – Jewish Genera Hospital (JGH);
• – Hôpital Sacré-Cœur de Montréal (HSC);
• – Montreal Heart Institute (MHI); an
• – Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ).

The purpose of this class action was to compensate all persons who underwent open-heart surgery using the 3T heater-cooler after November 1, 2011 in one of these Quebec hospitals and who were or are at risk of having been infected with the potentially fatal bacteria Mycobacterium chimerea.

The class action followed the press release issued by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux on November 1, 2016, informing the population of the risk of infection with this bacterium for patients who underwent open-heart surgery in one of these hospitals in the past 5 years.

Patients at risk of contamination probably received a letter in the fall of 2016 from their hospital, to inform them of such risk.

The class action included:

• – patients who were infected with this potentially fatal bacteria;
• – patients who were tested but were not infected, and;
• – undiagnosed and untested patients who experienced or are experiencing stress and anxiety for many years at the thought of having been infected without knowing it, which is the case for Mr. Paquin.

In preparation for the hearing on the application for authorization and after a review of the applicable law, we considered that the plaintiff’s chances of success of having the class action authorized were problematic given that he was not infected with the bacteria nor did he undergo a screening test.

Thus, on March 25, 2020, the plaintiff filed an application for leave to discontinue the class action.

On May 21, 2020, Mr. Justice Donald Bisson of the Superior Court agreed that Mr. Paquin was justified in discontinuing his application and authorized him to discontinue the class action. You may consult the judgment of the Honourable Donald Bisson.

A discontinuance means that the proceedings are abandoned.

IMPORTANT: The Motion for Authorization has not been heard by the court. No decision has been rendered as to the potential liability of Livanova Canada Corp and Livanova Deutschland GMBH.

The discontinuance of the class action thus does not have the effect of extinguishing your rights, if any. If you are covered by this notice and think that you have a claim to pursue with respect to a heart surgery involving a 3T heater-cooler, you should quickly seek the advice of a lawyer as the time period to file an action is limited.

For more details, please read the Notice to Members.