Free Affidavit - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
KD, a minor, by his parent :
and natural guardian, Kenneth Dieffenbach, and :
KENNETH DIEFFENBACH in his own right :
Piaaaara 2 .
: CIVIL ACTION NO. 07-515-***
v. :
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Defendant.
AFFIDAVIT OF KENNETH DIEFFENBACH
STATE OF DELAWARE )
) SS.
NEW CASTLE COUNTY )
BE IT REMEMZBERED that on this ¤2.3(b day January, 2008, personally appeared before
me, the subscriber, a Notary Public for the State and County aforesaid, Kenneth Dieffenbach, fter
being duly sworn according to law did depose and say that:
1. When my son, Kevin, was five years old., Itook him to NIH for evaluation of his
heart condition which was called "obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy? Even though my
son had never exhibited any symptoms relating to his heart condition, I was looking for the best
care I could End for him.
2. Kevin was sen by Dr. Lameh Fananapazir. I was shocked when Dr. Fananapazir
told me that my son would die if a pacemaker was not implanted in him. Dr. Fananapazir was
emphatic about this, so much so that he scared me into consenting to the insertion of the
pacemaker.
3. At no time did Dr. Fananapazir or anyone else at NIH tell me the implantation

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of a pacemaker was actually part of an experiment being conducted at NIH. And t]1at Kevin’s
condition did not call for the implantation of the pacemaker.
4. For the next three years, I continued to take Kevin NIH. Over this period of time,
Kevin started having severe symptoms, which continued to get worse. Dr. Fananapazir
prescribed medicine, but it did nothing to improve my son’s symptoms. Finally, Dr. Fananapazir
told me that there was nothing more that NIH could do for Kevin. He also told me that what
Kevin needed was a heart transplant.
l 5. In October of 1998, I took my son to Childrens Hospital in Boston. There I
learned that it was the medicine that Dr. Fananapazir had prescribed that was causing Kevin’s
symptoms. As soon as Kevin stopped taking the medicine, his symptoms improved.
6. Contrary to what I was told by Dr. Fananapazjr, I was told by the doctors in
Boston that Kevin did not need a heart transplant, that he did not need an ICD, and that he was
not even considered a high risk patient. n
7. On September S, 2003, Kevin had a heart attack. I took him back to the doctors in
Boston, who told me that the heart attack was caused by the pacemaker, which was defective. I
did not know at that time that the pacemaker should never have been implanted in the tirst place.
8. Because the pacemaker was defective, the doctors decided that it had to he
removed. Unfortunately, they told me that they could not remove the pacemaker without
l implanting an ICD in my son.
9. On May l0, 2004, Kevin had to undergo open heart surgery. After that was
done, the surgeon told me that the pacemaker should never had been implanted in the tirst place.
I was at this time that I discovered that the treatment my son received at NH-I actually made his
underlying condition worse. It was also at this time that I learned that had NH-I provided

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appropriate care for my son, the pacemaker would never have been implanted, and my son would
not have had the heart attack in 2003.
10. I am one of the plaintiffs in this case, and I have read the answering brief To the
best of my knowledge, the facts set forth in the answering brief are true and correct.
Kenne@iffenb ach
WITNESS my hand and seal in the State and County aforesaid.
Notary Public
- FREDERICK K. FUNK
ATTORNEY AT LAW

Case 1:07-cv-00515-GMS-MPT

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Case 1:07-cv-00515-GMS-MPT

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Case 1:07-cv-00515-GMS-MPT

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