A wrongful death lawsuit claims an Oklahoma woman died because of a fractured IVC filter.

Plaintiff Tracy H. has filed this fractured IVC filter lawsuit on behalf of the estate of his late mother Joan H, naming as defendants C.R. Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc., and Cook Group, Incorporated, the manufacturers of the IVC filter.

Joan was a resident of Le Flore County, Okla. According to the fractured IVC filter lawsuit, she was implanted with the IVC filter at Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith, Ark. in August 2015.

According to the fractured IVC filter lawsuit, the “IVC filter perforated decedent’s inferior vena cava and fractured, causing injury to surrounding tissues, vessels, and organs, and fractured pieces of the IVC filter, and/or the entire device, migrated to other area of decedent’s body including, but not limited to her heart.”

After the filter pieces migrated to her heart, Joan required emergency open-heart surgery at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. She passed away on Oct. 5, 2015 at Sequoyah Memorial Hospital.

Tracy is filing the following counts against the defendants: 1) Negligence, 2) Strict Liability- Design Defect, 3) Strict Liability- Manufacturing Defect, 4) Strict Liability- Failure to Warn, 5) Breach of Implied Warranty, 6) Breach of Express Warranty, 7) Fraud, and 8) Negligent Misrepresentation.

The plaintiff demands a trial by jury.

IVC Filter Facts

An IVC filter, also known as an inferior vena cava filter, is a medical device manufactured to prevent blood clots from entering a patient’s lungs or heart.

The IVC filter is placed in the patient’s inferior vena cava, which is the body’s large vein that transports blood to the heart. Implanting the device there prevents blood clots from moving into a patient’s lungs or heart. The filter traps these blood clots and allows the blood’s natural anticoagulants to dissolve it.

But according to plaintiffs like Tracy, IVC filters create a risk of complications that could make them more trouble than they’re worth.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received several adverse event reports about IVC filter complications since the product entered the market. Hundreds of patients have reported suffering from filter migration, punctured blood vessels and organs, and a fractured IVC filter that leaves parts loose in the bloodstream where they can find their way to the heart and put the patient’s life at risk.

IVC Filter Lawsuits

According to the fractured IVC filter lawsuit, responsibility for Joan’s complications and death rests with defendants C.R. Bard and Cook Group for failing to adequately warn Joan and her physicians about the risks associated with these devices.

Tracy further claims that the manufacturers knew that their product could lead to such adverse effects and complications, but failed to alert consumers and the medical community at large of the possibility of these occurrences. They had allegedly continued to market and sell the IVC filter product anyway, placing profit and revenue over consumer and patient safety.

The Fractured IVC Filter Lawsuit is Case No. 6:17-cv-00374-JHP, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.