HEALTH CARE

Heart Valve Ruling Upheld: A state Court of Appeal refused to overturn a decision that allows hundreds of out-of-state recipients of potentially defective heart valves the ability to sue in California. Pfizer Inc., the New York-based parent of Shiley Inc. in Irvine, asked the Court of Appeal last month to reconsider Orange County Superior Court Judge William F. Rylaarsdam’s ruling in favor of about 130 out-of-state U.S. recipients, who have functioning valves yet are pursuing claims because they fear that the devices will malfunction. Officials with Pfizer had argued that the plaintiffs were “forum shopping.”