MICROCOOL* Breathable High Performance Surgical Gowns

May 2017: After this case went to trial, the Court entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff class and against the companies finding that plaintiffs presented enough evidence to prove that the companies failed to disclose, or actively concealed, important information about the MicroCool medical gowns, and that reasonable consumers were likely to be deceived. The Court ordered Kimberly-Clark to pay more than $3.8 million to the class, just over $1 million in prejudgment interest, and $350 million in punitive damages, and ordered Halyard Health to pay more than $260,000 to the class, more than $43,000 in prejudgment interest, and $100 million in punitive damages. The plaintiffs’ request for restitution and injunctive relief was denied.

March 2016: The individual claims of one of the named plaintiff’s (Shahinian) were voluntarily dismissed When a complaint is dismissed with prejudice, it cannot be refiled.. The claims of the remaining plaintiffs will move forward.

December 2015: Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding several named plaintiffs and an additional defendant (Halyard Health, Inc.). The amended complaint similarly alleges that the companies misleadingly market medical gowns as providing the highest level of liquid barrier protection and safe to use when treating patients with serious diseases when, according to plaintiffs, the gowns do not meet relevant industry standards and, as a result, are unsafe.

October 2014: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Kimberly-Clark Corporation for allegedly marketing the MICROCOOL* Breathable High Performance Surgical Gowns. Among other things, plaintiffs claim that the company falsely represents the gowns as providing the highest level of liquid barrier protection and safe to wear while treating patients with serious diseases such as Ebola when, accordng to the complaint, the gowns do not meet the relevant standards for liquid barrier protection and are unsafe. (Shahinian, M.D., F.A.C.S., et al v. Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Case No. 14-cv-8390, C. D. CA.).