An investigation by NBC News raises serious questions about health problems reportedly associated with an Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filter made by manufacturer C.R. Bard.

The IVC filter investigation notes reports of deaths and IVC filter complications supposedly associated with the Recovery IVC filter, an implantable medical device used to prevent blood clots from migrating from the lower body into the heart or lungs. The Recovery filter was one of several different IVC filters manufactured by Bard.

Investigators say they found reports of at least 27 deaths associated with the Bard Recovery IVC filter within a single decade. In one of the cases, Gloria A. reportedly died from IVC filter complications within one week after having her filter implanted. Gloria’s autopsy revealed that a large blood clot had pushed the filter out of place and all the way to her heart, puncturing it.

The NBC report also cites government data showing that about 300 other non-fatal IVC filter complications have been reported in conjunction with use of the Recovery filter. One IVC filter recipient named Dodi F. began suffering intense headaches and suddenly passed out, the report says. Dodi says that she started flatlining while in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

NBC says doctors found a piece of Dodi’s IVC filter had broken away and migrated into her heart. Dodi’s IVC filter removal required emergency open-heart surgery, during which doctors were able to remove the fragment and save her life.

Reports of problems with the Bard IVC filter prompted the company to commission a study by an outside doctor, NBC says. The doctor reportedly found the Recovery filter had higher rates of relative risk for IVC filter side effects like movement, fracture and death when compared to other IVC filters. The report shows the doctor’s conclusion that further investigation is “urgently warranted.”

Yet despite the increasing reports of IVC filter complications, Bard did not recall the Recovery filter. NBC says the company continued to sell the Recovery until it introduced a newer version, the G2 filter.

Bard IVC Filter Lawsuits

Reports of IVC filter side effects associated with the Recover and other Bard filters have led to a series of IVC filter lawsuits against Bard.

In one such claim, Plaintiff Kathleen B. says she did not think her husband Eugene’s Bard IVC filter could have caused his death until almost eight years after he died. Kathleen says Eugene had the filter implanted after undergoing bariatric surgery, due to his history of pulmonary embolism. He died suddenly not long after receiving the filter, after complaining of pressure in his chest and falling unconscious.

Kathleen says an autopsy report revealed that a blood clot had pushed Eugene’s IVC filter out of place and caused it to migrate to his heart. Kathleen now alleges Eugene would not have died but for his IVC filter complications.

In another IVC filter lawsuit, plaintiff Alec C. says his Bard IVC filter perforated his inferior vena cava after it shifted out of place. Alec had been implanted with a Bard Eclipse IVC filter, a retrievable model designed for IVC filter removal.

Many of these lawsuits against Bard are consolidated into a multidistrict litigation in a federal court in Arizona. Other manufacturers of IVC filters are facing similar multidistrict litigations elsewhere.