Abbott spinal cord stimulator lawsuits are being filed by patients who say devices intended to relieve their chronic pain instead caused electrical shocks, burning sensations, worsening pain, neurological injuries, and additional surgery. Some patients say their stimulators failed after repeated reprogramming attempts. Others allege that the leads moved, that the system stopped delivering treatment, or that Abbott representatives became more involved in their medical care than they should have, putting Abbott’s interests ahead of the patients’ well-being.
That paragraph is a nutshell of what this litigation is about. The number of filed cases is low right now, but our lawyers believe this litigation will eventually involve thousands of claims. We are getting a lot of calls in these cases, and lawyers we work with are also reporting that they are developing huge inventories of these cases.
On October 2, 2026, the federal judicial panel created MDL No. 3194 to coordinate related Abbott cases for pretrial proceedings in the Northern District of Illinois. The cases are assigned to U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins.