Posted on January 19, 2006 | Reuters
N.Y. Times Sues for Access to Guidant Documents
Thu Jan 19, 2006 11:22 AM ET 
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The New York Times is scheduled to appear in a Texas courtroom on Thursday to request the release of documents that may show medical device maker Guidant Corp. knew its implantable heart defibrillators had a potentially fatal flaw before selling them, according to a plaintiffs' attorney.
Guidant, the subject of a heated bidding war between Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific Corp., faces product liability lawsuits related to its July 2005 recall of defibrillators.
The devices were recalled after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that electrical flaws could create "a reasonable likelihood of serious injury or death."
Plaintiff attorney Bob Hilliard issued a news release saying that the newspaper had filed a lawsuit in the 94th District Court in Nueces County , Texas , seeking the public health and safety documents, arguing that they were sealed even though they do not contain trade secrets.
No one at the New York Times or Guidant was immediately available to comment.
"These documents are not trade secrets, only evil secrets," Hilliard said in a statement. "They directly affect the public health and safety, and Guidant has wrongfully attempted to hide them from the public's view."
Hilliard represents two plaintiffs in the first product liability case related to the recalls to go to trial. The trial is set for February 20, 2006 .
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
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