The law firm of wohl & fruchter files class action lawsuit against
edwards lifesciences corp. and other defendants
New york--(business wire)--the law firm of wohl & fruchter llp has filed a class action lawsuit against edwards lifesciences corp. (edwards lifesciences) (nyse: ew) and certain of its officers. the class action, filed on october 24, 2013, in the united states district court, central district of california, and docketed under sacv13-1666-bro-dfmx, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of edwards lifesciences between april 25, 2012 and april 23, 2013, both dates inclusive (the "class period"). this class action seeks to recover damages against the company and certain of its officers and directors as a result of alleged violations of the federal securities laws pursuant to sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the securities exchange act of 1934 and rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. if you are a shareholder who purchased ew shares during the class period and wish to serve as a lead plaintiff, you have until november 18, 2013 to seek appointment by the court as lead plaintiff for the class. to discuss the case or learn more about becoming a lead plaintiff, please contact j. elazar fruchter at jfruchter@wohlfruchter.com, or call us toll free at 866.833.6245. a copy of the complaint filed by wohl & fruchter can be obtained at: http://www.wohlfruchter.com/cases/ew edwards lifesciences is a medical device maker that designs and markets, among other things, artificial heart valves for implantation in patients with advanced cardiovascular disease. the company offers a range of such valves, including both valves that require traditional open-chest surgery, and its newer sapien line of transcatheter heart valves ("thys"), which may be implanted using a minimally invasive procedure. the complaint alleges that throughout the class period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the company's business, operations, and prospects. specifically, defendants failed to disclose and/or misrepresented adverse facts, including that: (1) adoption of sapien was weaker than the company claimed due to concerns among physicians over the risks and complexity of the procedure for implanting the valve; (2) edwards lifesciences' outlook for sales and earnings per share ("eps") was significantly weaker than the optimistic guidance defendants offered to investors; and (3) as a result, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for the statements made concerning the company's operations, forecasts, and outlook. on october 8, 2012, edwards lifesciences issued a press release announcing weak preliminary financial results for the quarter ended september 30, 2012, stating in relevant part, that "transcatheter heart valve sales were below expectations." michael a. mussallem, chief executive officer ("ceo") of edwards lifesciences, attributed these surprisingly poor results to austerity measures in europe, and reimbursement uncertainty and physicians' summer vacations in the united states. on april 23, 2013, the company disclosed that approximately 20 candidate hospitals had postponed sapien training, that there was substantially no backlog of patients awaiting sapien implants, and that the company's financial results had been and would likely continue to be weaker than estimates. on this news, edwards lifesciences shares fell $18.21 per share, or 21.99%, to close at $64.60 per share on april 24, 2013. more recently, in november 2013, edwards lifesciences announced a recall of components of its embol-x glide protection system, an access catheter device used to capture blood clots and tissue fragments during bypass surgeries. the fda has assigned its class i tag to the recall -- the most serious classification - warning that using the device could lead to serious adverse events including death. wohl & fruchter llp is an experienced securities litigation firm representing plaintiffs in class actions arising from securities fraud and fiduciary breaches, as well as other complex litigation matters. please visit our website, www.wohlfruchter.com, to learn more about our firm, or contact one of our partners. contact: j. elazar fruchter845.425.4658 or toll free 866.582.8140wohl & fruchter llp570 lexington avenuenew york, ny 10022www.wohlfruchter.com this release may be deemed to constitute attorney advertising.
