An inferior vena cava filter, or IVC filter, is a medical device implanted in a patient’s vein by a surgeon in order to prevent blood clots from moving into their lungs.

IVC’s are designed to catch a blood clot, which, over time, allows the clot to dissipate. However, since 2005, the FDA has received hundreds of adverse event reports concerning these medical device filters, including punctured organs and filter migrations.

IVC Filter Side Effects and Complications

In response to the various adverse reports received by the agency, the FDA published a 2010 medical device warning to inform consumers about the possible IVC filter risks and complications, including filter fracture, device migration, and organ perforation.

The FDA IVC filter notice also states that as soon as a patient’s blood clot subsides, the medical device should be removed. More than 900 IVC filter adverse reports have been received by the FDA. The personal injuries reported by IVC filter patients include:

• 56 filter fractures
• 70 filter perforations
• 146 embolization (when the components of the device spontaneously detach)
• 328 device migrations

In the wake of the FDA medical device warning, a slew of IVC filter lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts across the nation, similarly claiming the filters caused patients injury and, in some cases, death.

Most of the IVC filters that have been mentioned in these personal injury lawsuits are manufactured by C.R. Bard  and Cook Group Inc. Three IVC filters that have been at the center of this medical device litigation include the Bard Recovery filter, the  Bard G2 filter, and the Bard G2 Express filter.

The IVC filter lawsuits bring similar allegations against these medical device manufacturers, including negligence, failure to warn, design defect, manufacturing defect, breach of implied warranty, and finally negligent misrepresentation.

IVC Filter Litigation

In 2012, the first wave of IVC filter lawsuits were filed in California and Pennsylvania state courts, alleging personal injuries caused by C.R. Bard’s medical devices. In 2014, various IVC filter lawsuits from 11 different districts were consolidated into a medical device multidistrict litigation by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation before U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young in Indiana federal court.

In February, C.R. Bard settled an IVC filter lawsuit filed by plaintiff Kevin P. 10 days after trial for the case began. According to this Bard IVC filter lawsuit, the medical device broke inside Kevin’s body, causing one of the miniscule metal legs to travel to, and perforate, his heart.

The resulting injury required the plaintiff to undergo open heart surgery and endure a long recovery. Countless IVC filter lawsuits are still awaiting trial in state and federal courts.

IVC filter lawsuits may help compensate victims for medical expenses incurred due to IVC filter personal injuries, as well as compensate spouses and surviving family members in the case of patient death resulting from IVC filter complications.