EDWARDSVILLE – A Texas woman is suing two companies over claims they were negligent in connection with their weight loss medical device.
Donna Lin Kayter filed suit Jan 15 in Madison County Circuit Court against defendants, California-based Allergan USA, Inc. and Apollo Endosurgery US, Inc. of Texas. In a 77-page complaint, It is alleged the plaintiff was not warned of the dangers of the Lap-Band medical device, which is surgically implanted to help weight loss by limiting food intake.
Kayter seeks both compensatory and punitive damages after claiming the history of the device is littered with warnings of its dangers, including the potential for erosion.
| Wikimedia Commons, Alex Proimos
The underlying complaint alleges that the Lap-Band eroded and this created a “dense adhesion” from the stomach to the liver, spleen and diaphragm. It is claimed this occurred due to erosion of the Lap-Band from when it was implanted in 2010 to when it was removed on Feb. 8, 2018.
Allergan manufactured and sold the device until Apollo purchased the company’s obesity intervention division in 2013.
The complaint claims Kayter developed sepsis, was hospitalized for 11 days, and then needed home health care following the removal of the device. She also developed a hernia and an abscess.
Allergan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Madison County Record.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 2020-L-38