Another IVC filter lawsuit has been filed against C.R. Bard over claims that their IVC medical implant is allegedly dangerous.

Plaintiff Sheila M. of Springfield, Illinois filed the IVC filter lawsuit in early October 2015. According to her Bard IVC filter lawsuit, Shelia M. had an IVC implanted in June of 2013 as a temporary measure.

However, when she went in to have the temporary IVC filter removed in October of 2013, surgeons were unable to locate it and remove it. Shelia had to have a follow-up surgery in December 2013 to finally retrieve the allegedly errant medical implant.

What is an IVC Filter?

IVC filters, short for Inferior Vena Cava filters, are small medical implants designed to be inserted into the largest vein leading into the heart. Here, an IVC filter is designed to catch blood clots flowing through the blood stream, to keep them from causing stroke, heart attack, and pulmonary embolism.

IVC filter lawsuits like the one filed by Sheila M. allege that C.R. Bard’s blood clot filters are dangerously defective.

In Sheila’s case, the initial attempt to remove the IVC filter found that the sensitive device designed to protect the heart had broken apart within her blood vessels.

As such, it required a more complex procedure to cut through the vena cava and cut out the hooks of the device. Surgeons were forced to leave several pieces of the IVC filter in her body. Her IVC filter lawsuit holds that this will cause lifelong health problems.

IVC Filter Complications

Sheila’s IVC filter lawsuit spells out reported issues many patients are experiencing with the device. Though the technology has existed since the 1960s, C.R. Bard began to create the series of IVC filters used in Sheila M. and others in the early 2000s.

Allegedly, nearly a third of C.R. Bard’s IVC filters experience catastrophic failures. Many IVC lawsuits allege that starting in 2004, C.R. Bard engaged in a “silent recall,” quietly redesigning their IVC filters, starting with the G2 in 2004, and later the Eclipse in 2013 to try and fix it instead of recalling the allegedly-defective medical implant.

To back these assertions, court documents cite a warning letter from the FDA, issued in July of 2015, asserting that the device was not approved and being illegally marketed.

Additionally, IVC filter lawsuits allege that C.R. Bard was aware, or reasonably should have been aware, that the IVC filter was defective and potentially dangerous.

Further allegations include that C.R. Bard promoted these IVC filters despite the risks, endangering the lives of patients like Sheila M, leaving C.R. Bard liable for the costs of the alleged complications Shelia M. and others may have experienced.

The IVC filter lawsuit is Case No. 3287, in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Springfield Division.