California Injury Lawyers Blog
A woman’s cochlear implants shocked her and made an earsplitting noise when they were damaged by a Wal-Mart theft-alarm system, reports Courthouse News. Yvette Garces had one of the implants surgically replaced and is scheduled to have the other replaced in March, according to a lawsuit she filed last week in Federal Court.
Cochlear implants are installed in a patient’s inner ear and connect to an external transmitter behind their ear. Unlike hearing aids, they don’t amplify sounds. Instead they convert them to electric signals that are sent through the auditory nerve to the brain.
Garces and her husband sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Cochlear Americas and Tyco Integrated Security on Feb. 12, two days before the two-year statute of limitations deadline on their claims. Garces says her hearing and health were damaged by a visit to a Wal-Mart store in Quakertown, PA., on Feb. 14, 2014.