Firm Sues Medical Device Manufacturer and Hospital After Patient Suffers Brain Damage From Malfunctioning Device Meant to Treat Aneurysm

Bellevue, WA

In 2013, Dennis Montgomery, a software designer, had a brain aneurysm that doctors said could be treated safely by surgically inserting into the aneurysm a special device – the Penumbra Coil 400. During the surgery at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, the surgeon placed 90 percent of the coil into the aneurysm, but the last 10 percent got stuck in the intracranial artery. If the device had worked properly, the surgeon should have been able to remove the coil and try a different approach. Instead, the coil detached prematurely, becoming lodged in the artery and caused Dennis to suffer a stroke. The lawsuit, filed by Friedman | Rubin attorney Peter Mullenix, names the manufacturer Penumbra, two of its employees who were present during the surgery, and Overlake Hospital. Media coverage of the claim includes this report by the Seattle Times.