Several serious side effects of Inferior Vena Cava Filters have been reported, including vein and organ perforation and device migration and breakage that can severely injure patients.

About Inferior Vena Cava Filters

An Inferior Vena Cava Filter, also known as an IVC filter, is a device used to prevent blood clots from entering dangerous places of a patient’s body, especially the lungs and heart, which can cause a pulmonary embolism. However, recent reports have suggested that these devices may do more serious harm than good.

Inferior Vena Caval Filter lawsuits across the country claim that IVC filter complications may be even more harmful than the clots themselves.

According to adverse event reports received by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past ten years, hundreds of patients have suffered from IVC filter side effects including punctured organs and filter migrations, which can cause major complications.

IVC filters are implanted in a patient’s main artery to prevent blood clots from moving into a patient’s lungs and heart. Over time, this allows the clot to dissipate.

IVC Filter Complications

Blood clotting can cause major complications for patients, and even place them at risk of death. To combat this danger, many patients and their doctors choose to use an IVC filter procedure in order to prevent blood clots from entering a patient’s lungs or heart.

IVC filter placement is inside the inferior vena cava, the largest vein in the human body. The inferior vena cava returns blood back into the heart and then on to the lungs. Blood clots in this vein are therefore extremely dangerous.

Blood clots which travel to the lungs can become a pulmonary embolism (PE) which cuts off blood flow to the lungs. Pulmonary embolism is a serious complication. PE causes about 300,000 deaths every year, though they are preventable with the right measures. One of the measures possible is an IVC filter procedure.

IVC filter side effects can occur if the device is defective, or if the original IVC filter placement was not done correctly. If an IVC filter is slightly out of position, it can be forced even more out of its proper placement over time.

While the first step in alleviating IVC filter complications like these is IVC filter removal, in some cases, IVC filter removal can be too dangerous. However, in a worst case scenario, failure at IVC filter removal can lead to serious IVC filter side effects like pulmonary embolism, placing the patient at severe risk.

Inferior Vena Caval Filter Lawsuits

IVC filter lawsuits
across the United States are claiming that the product can be dangerous to patients. Lawsuits allege that the IVC filters are not worth the risk, given that the devices themselves may be more harmful than the clots.

The FDA has responded to these claims against the IVC filters’ safety, recommending that the devices only be used on a temporary rather than permanent basis, and only if medications or other treatments are deemed ineffective.

Injured patients have filed lawsuits against a number of Inferior Vena Caval filter makers, citing organ damage due to filter migration and breaks, as well as other serious complications. If you or someone you know has suffered IVC filter complications, you may have cause to file an IVC filter lawsuit.

Filing a lawsuit does not repair the damage, but can help compensate for the physical, emotional, and financial losses felt as a result of these devices.