A man has filed a lawsuit after he says he was injured by a Bard G2 IVC filter.

Plaintiff Charles W. says he received a C.R. Bard G2 Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filter that was implanted in February 2007. His Bard G2 IVC filter lawsuit joins and MDL currently making its way through the court system.

The Bard G2 IVC filter is one in C.R. Bard’s line of non-retrievable filters. These small devices are implanted in the inferior vena cava to catch blood clots that could otherwise potentially travel from the lower part of the body to the heart or lungs.

Some patients diagnosed with a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are more susceptible to blood clots, and those who are unable to tolerate blood-thinning medications often receive IVC filters.

Unfortunately, studies have indicated that IVC filters are not effective in preventing pulmonary emboli, and in some cases, actually cause thrombi to develop, according to a study published in the October 2015 Annals of Surgery.

The study compared the results of more than 30,000 trauma patients who did not receive IVC filters with patients who had received them. The Annals of Surgery published the following results:

• Almost twice the percentage of patients with IVC filters in the study died compared to those that had not received them.
• More than five times the relative number of patients with IVC filters developed deep vein thrombosis (DVTs).
• More than four times the relative percentage of patients with filters developed thromboemboli, which is the formation in the blood vessel of a clot that breaks loose and is carried by the blood stream and then plugs another vessel.
• Over twice the percentage of patients developed a pulmonary embolus – the single condition Bard told the FDA, physicians, and the public that its IVC Filters were designed to prevent.

Bard G2 IVC Filter Lawsuit Allegations

“The G2 filter’s design causes it to be of insufficient integrity and strength to withstand normal stresses within the human body so as to resist fracturing, migrating and/or tilting, and/or perforating the inferior vena cava,” alleges the Bard G2 IVC filter lawsuit.

The G2 filter allegedly has manufacturing defects that include “draw markings” and “circumferential grinding markings” on the exterior surface of the filter that compromise the integrity of the device when placed inside the human body. The G2 purportedly is prone to fail at or near these markings on the struts of the filters.

Failures of the G2 filters reportedly included severe injuries to patients, who allegedly experienced:

• Perforations of tissues, blood vessels and organs
• Severe, constant pain
• Cardiac arrhythmia
• Cardiac/pericardial tamponade (pressure caused by blood collecting around the heart)
• Hemorrhaging
• Death

According to the Bard G2 IVC  filter lawsuit, Bard purportedly was aware that its filters had previously caused injuries to patients and that the risks of the IVC filters outweighed the benefits.

The Bard G2 IVC Filter Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-02539-DGC  and is part of the C.R. Bard MDL, In re: Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2641, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.