Both sides in the litigation over Cook inferior vena cava filters have been given a chance to educate the court about the relevant medical issues during a court-scheduled “science day.”

The court scheduled the session for March 22 so that all sides in the multidistrict litigation would have a chance to present basic technical information about the controversial blood filters and their potential complications. Both plaintiffs and defendants got a chance to educate the court in a non-adversarial setting.

The multidistrict litigation, or MDL, currently consists of over 250 individual lawsuits against Cook Medical Inc. by plaintiffs alleging they suffered complications after being implanted with Cook inferior vena cava filters. U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young has been overseeing the MDL since it was created in October 2014.

The MDL allows a single court to oversee pretrial procedures of several similar lawsuits at once, in the interest of promoting consistent and more efficient pretrial decision making.

Explaining Inferior Vena Cava Filters

In MDLs that cover technically complex subjects, courts sometimes schedule scientific presentations like this “science day” to bring laypersons involved in the litigation up to speed on the technical information. Each side in the litigation gets a chance to appoint a presenter to deliver the scientific information.

Unlike expert witnesses at trial, the presenters are not under oath, and they do not have to submit to cross examination by the opposing party. The information presented is also not included in the case’s body of evidence, so unlike a deposition, it can’t be used to impeach a witness at trial.

Inferior vena cava filters are used to prevent blood clot-related injuries like pulmonary embolism in patients who are at risk for such injuries but for whom anticoagulant medications are not a good option. The filter consists of a small cage-like bundle of wires designed to be implanted in the inferior vena cava.

Since the inferior vena cava function is to return blood from the legs, it’s the pathway by which blood clots that form in the legs may reach the heart and lungs. A filter implanted in that vein can catch those clots, preventing a pulmonary embolism.

IVC Filter Complications

In the Cook MDL, allegations among the several different lawsuits are roughly similar. Plaintiffs generally allege their inferior vena cava filters failed in some way, causing severe and sometimes life-threatening injuries.

Some devices allegedly fractured, letting loose fragments that may have traveled through the bloodstream and lodged in the heart. Others allegedly migrated out of place or punctured the vein, compromising vena cava function.

Some patients say they had to undergo surgery to attempt to remove their filter – surgery that in some cases was unsuccessful, leaving the filter or fragments of it permanently lodged inside their body.

As the MDL progresses, the court is expected to select a few exemplary claims to be the first to go to trial. These “bellwether” trials will give the parties an idea of how juries will respond to the available evidence. While the outcomes of bellwether trials is not binding on other cases, they may help facilitate settlement of those claims.

The Cook Inferior Vena Cava Filters MDL is Case No. 1:14-ML-02570 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.