OTHER NEWS - Sept. 9, 1991

Another Suit Filed Against Shiley: In what attorneys say is the largest product liability case in Orange County, a Florida law firm has filed a suit in Santa Ana on behalf of 61 people who claim emotional distress as a result of being implanted with potentially faulty Shiley heart valves. Their claim is expected to be merged with a suit by about 430 other patients who received the Bjork-Shiley Convexo-Concave Heart Valve manufactured by Shiley Inc. of Irvine. Fractures of the defective heart valves are blamed for about 250 deaths. The defect has prompted hundreds of lawsuits from patients who have Shiley valves that are still working but must live with the possibility that they could fail.