You may qualify to file a spinal cord stimulator claim if you received a permanently implanted stimulator from Boston Scientific, Abbott/St. Jude, Medtronic, or Nevro and then suffered shocks, burns, nerve damage, lead migration or fracture, or loss of pain relief that required revision or removal surgery.
A spinal cord stimulator is an implanted device that sends electrical pulses to pain nerves, and the lawsuits focus on permanent implants that malfunctioned. Levy Konigsberg describes that implanted group with a device injury and follow-up surgery as the core group for these cases. Temporary trial leads alone do not fit that pattern.
Official resources:
- Read the original report from FDA — Use this primary source to review the complete report.
- Read the original report from Neurologyadvisor — Use this primary source to review the complete report.
Table of Contents
- Which devices and injuries are included?
- What recalls and safety history affect your claim?
- How is the litigation organized now?
- What should you save before you call a lawyer?
Which devices and injuries are included?
The four brands named in the litigation are Boston Scientific, Abbott/St. Jude, Medtronic, and Nevro. Levy Konigsberg describes the core filing group as people with a permanent implant from one of those makers who later had a listed injury, according to the Levy Konigsberg case eligibility summary.
Covered harms include painful shocks, skin burns, new nerve damage, lead movement or breakage, and loss of pain relief. The key link is that the problem required another procedure to fix, reposition, or remove the system. Infection alone is generally not accepted in this litigation, according to Helbock Law and an October 2026 update from King Law. A short-lived trial stimulator that was never permanently implanted also falls outside the described group.
What recalls and safety history affect your claim?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration classified Boston Scientific's 2026 removal of all unused Infinion CX SCS leads as a Class I recall, its most serious type, after 1,081 reported serious injuries from lead fracture or high impedance causing poor stimulation and repeat surgery, according to the FDA notice on the Infinion CX lead removal. That recall matters if your records list an Infinion CX lead. A separate Class I recall covered Abbott Proclaim and Infinity implantable pulse generators that could stick in MRI mode and fail to resume therapy, according to the FDA notice on the Proclaim and Infinity MRI-mode recall.
The FDA said the affected units were distributed from Nov. 21, 2015 to June 29, 2023. Broader reports give context for why lawyers are screening cases. Neurology Advisor reporting on a September 2020 FDA letter says the agency urged a stimulation trial before permanent implantation after 107,728 device reports from July 2016 to July 2020, including injuries, malfunctions, and about 497 deaths. An Associated Press investigation republished in 2018 found more than 80,000 injury reports since 2008, making stimulators the third-highest injury-report device category.
How is the litigation organized now?
Federal Boston Scientific product-liability cases were centralized on June 5, 2026 as MDL No. 3181 before Judge Josephine L. Staton in the Central District of California, while Abbott, Medtronic, and Nevro cases proceed separately after the panel denied one industry-wide MDL, according to the MDL summary from Helbock Law.
That structure affects where a new case may go. Your maker and implant model help decide whether your claim would join the federal Boston Scientific track, a state-court case, or a separate action against another maker. No settlement exists yet, and MDL 3181 remains in an early stage, according to Helbock Law and King Law. Filing deadlines depend on state product-liability statutes of limitations, so timing turns on your state and when the injury was discovered.
What should you save before you call a lawyer?
TruLaw advises potential claimants to preserve implant records, device model and serial information, operative and revision or explant reports, and proof that the device was turned off or removed because of malfunction. Those papers connect the brand, the failure, and the medical cost.
Use this quick check before you gather files: Ask the hospital medical-records office for the implant sticker sheet, operative notes, device interrogation printouts, imaging for lead position, and the explant pathology or return-device form. Keep bills, travel receipts, and missed-work notes in one folder.
- Permanent implant from one of the four named makers, not a trial only
- Listed harm such as shock, burn, nerve injury, lead migration or fracture, or loss of relief
- Revision, replacement, or removal surgery tied to the malfunction
- Records showing model, serial number, dates, and reason for shutoff or explant