Investor Files Suit Against Maker of Diagnostic Kits

A Michigan investor has filed suit against Disease Detection International Inc. and its president, accusing them of making false or misleading statements about the future prospects of the money-losing maker of medical diagnostic kits.

Daniel J. Trierweiler, a Rockford, Mich.-based developer who also operates a Burger King franchise, filed the suit last December in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Mich. The suit names 28 defendants, including former Interior Secretary James G. Watt and Martin Howard Grossberg, a stockbroker who has traded DDI securities. Most of the defendants are not related to DDI. Watt was a former chairman and director of DDI.

DDI President H. Thad Morris denied any wrongdoing. “We don’t believe there’s a merit to this suit,” he said. “I think the suit is immaterial to DDI and myself.”

Trierweiler could not be reached for comment Thursday.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated Jan. 30, Morris contends that his company disclosed all data appropriate to Trierweiler and that “no material information was omitted to make such statements misleading.”

Irvine-based DDI said that in documents filed as part of its November, 1988, private placement of stock, Trierweiler acknowledged that “a proposed investment in the company’s securities involved the risk of loss of the entire investment.”

While DDI said it plans to contest the lawsuit, Morris told the SEC that the company may not have the resources to finance the legal costs.

In October, 1991, the company’s stock was removed from the National Assn. of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations system due to its failure to meet minimum financial requirements. It is still traded over the counter.