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Show SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS WEDNESDAY MARCH 27, 2002 Community Glendale man recipient of Heartmate worn over the shoulder. By Myrna Cox So the man is now functioning Scenario: A young man working for Page Steel is on the job in his with the Heartmate. Now for company truck, seemingly miles more critical function. The right from nowhere, when he is struck side ofthe heart must take over with a massive heart attack, tak- ing the total function of the left side ofthe heart. He is transported to by ground ambulance hfe Monticello, Utah. Later he is flighted to LDS Hospital. Doctors are amazed that the man is still alive. He is fading fast. He is dying. Forty five min- utes later, family and friends from home receive encouraging news The man fits the criteria for a Heartmate VELVAS What is the I leartmate? Basi- cally the Heartmate is a heart assist device specifically designed to take over the pumping function of the left ventricle. The implantable pump containing both motor and drive line is placed under the heart in the chest cavity. The system also includes a power base unit for and perform its function. After many days, many prayers and the professional care from the LDS team, Cleo Lamb of Glen- dale, Utah is functioning with the internal device and the right side action of his heart as a life sustaining team. Modem day miracles? It seems so. Cleo Lamb is now in need of a heart The system is usually re- placed by a heart transplant withmtwoyears.Heartsarevery hard to come by since there are 2000onthewaitinglistandonly a few donor hearts are coming in two pounds. The pump has two chambers, the blood chamber and the air motor chamber. The membrane moves up and down when pushed by the motor. The inside of the pump has special textured surfaces. One side is made of titanium, a very hard metal with tiny beads that create a highly textured surface. While the other is a textured polyurethane membrane. The textured surface helps the body form a lining inside the device which mimics the inside ofblood vessels. The Heartmate is able to pump up to 10 liters per minute; Thats more than two gallons of blood flow. The normal healthy heart pumps 0 liters per minute. The pump unit is inserted into the bottom of the heart, a tubing A sobering moment is connected to the aorta, an Justin Lathim of Fredonia looks at a bronze sculpture in the cardiac unit at incision is made to allow the the L.D.S. where his grandfather, Cleo Lamb of Glendale, is lines to connect the battery sys- recovering. Hospital The engraving on the sculpture is: The Gift of Life. tem to a battery pack outside of State Bank of Southern Utah in Orderville is accepting donations for the the body, supported by a halter Lamb Family. Photo by Myrna Cox. 5-1- public information Fen-Phe- n From the Law Office each day. Lind What is the normal expecta- I have been asked about Fen- tion of the person receiving the let me set forth a Heartmate? The person will be phen First, have not j pursued a able to exercise. Some who have jjsciaimer n settle- career in the received the Heartmate have However I am aware of returned to light work, sports information, and since there such as skiing; walking and hv- - mmQ seems to be some curiosity I will mg in a normal way. .share with you what I know about We are all very grateful here in n lawsuit. I get the the Glendale for Cleo to have a second chance. He is a great guy. He and hiswifeJoannwererecentlycalled as nursery leaders in the ward, They are faithful temple goers probiems that they have experi- and have made some wonderfid enced because of n use. contnbutionstotheirfanulywith That decision is up to you, but I the genealogy work heyhave recommend make a done We wish you well and will h;h flIfal decision immediately while be extremely happy for your re-- there stiU may be a chance for ' turn back to us. involvement in the settlement. As most of you are aware, a charging batteries and providing power while resting. The heart pump is a flattened titanium cylinder about two inches thick and four inches in diameter, and weighs a little over c Qj-ri- Fen-Phe- Fen-Phe- Fen-Phe- nationwide lawsuit has been filed against drug manufactur- ers, producers or distributors of n the drug (and various othv drugs, namely: Pondimin and or Redux). As part of that lawsuit a huge and fairly com- plex settlement has been set-un The lawsuit initially gave claimants the option to opt- out of the settlement so that claimants could pur- sue their remedies separately against the drug companies. If you have not previously exer- cised the opt-oright, it may too late, although as I have consulted with other attorney's there still may be a chance for Fen-Phe- p. Fen-Phe- ut some to 12 opt-ou- t. Ifyou have not opted out ofthe then you may have a chance to be part of the nation- wide settlement. The settlement . is structured in matrixs which base a settlement award on the duration of use, the seriousness of the damage (determined through an echocardiogram), and the age of the F user. As you can imagine, the Fen- Phen lawsuit has generated a amount of interest among lawyers, and a number of law firms have tried to involve them- in the lawsuit. There are cess. To my knowledge, some of these law firms work through other specialized lawyers if a For exclaimant has opted-ou- t. ample, I have been informed that more than one law firm in Utah is using a lawyer from Texas to pur- sue opt-ocases, How does this help you? Well I guess you will have to be the judge. From the lawyers I have ut might be a 13 contingency fee (3313)wherethelawyertakes 13 of any settlement obtained foryou. I have also been told that the fees might go up to 40 if an is pursued There are also packets of infor- - opt-o- ut mationcontainingformsinvolved in the settlement, and listing a phone number to call to obtain needed forms. In weighing the options, an interested claimant will have to decide whether to try and brave the storm on their own, or to seek legal counsel to assist in making their way through the settlement maze. On the one hand, attorneys fees might be greater if a claimant hires a yeriiisteadofpursuingtheirclaim on their own. On the other hand, a claimant might obtain a better settlement if they utilize a lawyer that is sophisticated in the settle-b- e ment and testing process, and has the proper connections and approaches. After all, the settle-- . ment process may seem unbear- able to the average person. ther way there are risks and each interested claimant will have to decide how to pursue their claims. If you are interested in looking into this matter or pursuing a law-individu- al Ei-laws- claim please feel free to call or make and appointment over the next couple of weeks and I will share with you what I can regard- ). ingyour options (call at I have some forms and informa-gretion and I will be happy to make some copies for you at no charge, and can give you the num-selvber listed in these materials so some law firms that have become that an interested claimant can specialized and have made them- - inquire as to their ability to quite familiar with the sue their own settlement without whole F settlement pro- - a lawyer If you are interested in being represented by a lawyer, I have become aware of an attorney in Provo, Utah, who has closed down his regular practice and has for some time been handling only n cases. I would be happy to provide you the phone number and address of this lawyers law firm if you are interested in pursuing representation from this firm. If you are uncomfortable en-Ph- en 644-8808- at 1-8- 00 es pur-selv- en-Ph- es en Fen-Phe- cold-callin- g an out-of-to- law- yer and would like to keep a local lawyer involved in the case, I would consider staying involved with you as a connection between you and the other law firm (but, I may be limited in the number of involvements I can handle). f , . |