The next IVC filter case goes to trial this week

Thus far, the first cases to go to trial have yet to yield a clear victor; there have been wins and losses on both sides, so it is difficult to say how this next trial will end. Cook won the first IVC filter trial last year, but then lost two substantial monetary verdicts in May 2017 and March 2018. Cook’s last win occurred on June 1^st.

In Tuesday’s trial, a federal judge will oversee the multi-district litigation over C.R. Bard’s IVC filters. The plaintiff’s attorney, Ramon Lopez was quoted as saying this case could be “the tiebreaker of the trials” with the score currently at “1 to 1.”

As for the other major defendant, Cook Medical, the next phase is set for September 20^th, where a federal judge in Indiana will decide whether to change the current trial plan. A member of Cook’s defense counsel, Andrea Pierson, a partner at Faegre Baker Daniels, contends that her client’s IVC filters are “clinically successful devices critical to patient well-being, and no court or jury has identified a defect in the design of Cook’s IVC filters.”

There are, of course, pending lawsuits against manufacturers apart from Cook and Bard. Cortis, Rex Medical, and Argon Medical are just a few of the other manufacturers facing litigation over the design of their IVC filters.

IVC filters are implanted in patients in order to prevent potential pulmonary embolisms by trapping blood clots. They are generally intended for short-term use and are not meant to be left in place for an extended period of time. However, there have been numerous reports of adverse events associated with these devices. Now, thousands of people have filed lawsuits against the manufacturers of these devices, alleging that they are unsafe. Injuries and deaths have resulted from IVC filters that have broken apart, migrated throughout the body, perforated or become embedded in a vein.

The Bard case that goes to trial next week is being brought by Lisa and Mark Hyde. Lisa had a Bard IVC filter implanted that was removed three years later after it perforated near her heart. An additional Bard trial is scheduled for October 1st, in Delaware Superior Court, followed by yet another case against Bard slated to begin on October 21st in Dallas County District Court.