Heart-Valve Maker to Appeal Judge’s Ruling : Courts: Parent firm of Shiley Inc. will challenge order allowing out-of-state recipients of the valves to sue in California.

The Irvine-based maker of a potentially defective heart valve will appeal an Orange County Superior Court judge’s ruling that allows out-of-state recipients of the valves to sue in California.

Officials at Pfizer Inc., the New York parent of Shiley Inc. of Irvine, said Monday that they will claim that Judge William F. Rylaarsdam’s decision last week was “incorrect and inconsistent” with previous court decisions.

About 51,000 people worldwide depend on the suspect Bjork-Shiley convexo-concave valves, which were sold from 1979 to 1986. About 300 people have died after struts in the valves have come apart and caused malfunctions.

According to Pfizer, most of the 190 recipients who are suing Shiley in California live out of state and are seeking damages for anxiety and fear that their valves will malfunction. An undetermined number of valve-wearers’ spouses also are suing the the company.

Pfizer’s attorneys had argued to Rylaarsdam that out-of-state recipients were “forum shopping,” or pursuing their cases in California because juries in the state have granted larger emotional distress damage awards than juries elsewhere.

But Rylaarsdam rejected that claim. In his written decision he said the “overall burden” on all U.S. courts would be “substantially less” if the heart valve cases were heard in California.

The presence here of Shiley’s headquarters, its executives and researchers and millions of documents relating to the suspect valves would make it much easier to gather depositions and other information, the decision said.

“A single forum . . . would be most likely to produce consistent results,” Rylaarsdam wrote in a decision issued Nov. 27.

It was the second time the judge has ruled that out-of-state plaintiffs in the heart valve case could sue in California. Earlier this year the state Supreme Court ordered him to reconsider his initial decision--but Rylaarsdam found no reason to change his mind.

Pfizer officials said Monday that 129 valve recipients living in other states are pursuing claims in California courts, and that most of the claims are filed in Orange County.

In addition, 44 valve users who have sued Shiley and Pfizer live in California. Those cases have been consolidated and a July 12 trial date has been set.

Irvine attorney James Capretz, whose law firm represents most of the 44 plaintiffs, said the firm plans to ask that all 173 cases be consolidated.

Pfizer officials said they were “pleased” with the portion of Rylaarsdam’s ruling that held that foreign valve recipients did not have the same constitutional rights as U.S. citizens to pursue their cases in California.

The company said that 17 recipients who have filed suit in California live outside the United States. Capretz said he plans to pursue those cases in a federal district court.

Last week, an additional 333 valve recipients who had also sued Shiley in California reached an out-of-court settlement with the company.

A federal judge in Cincinnati approved a $215-million class action settlement last summer, but all of the valve recipients currently suing Shiley and Pfizer have refused to accept the terms of that agreement.

Rylaarsdam’s ruling Friday combined with a downgrading of Pfizer’s investment-worthiness by an industry analyst Monday to cause Pfizer’s common stock price to drop, closing at $78.13 a share on the New York Stock Exchange, down $1.63.