Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been implanted with a device known as a blood clot filter, designed to stop blood clots from moving to the heart and potentially saving lives.

However, many of these devices have been alleged to be fatal as the blood clot filter implant can dislodge from its position in the body and end up perforating the heart or lungs.

What is a Blood Clot Filter?

Blood clots that develop in the veins of the leg or pelvis occasionally break up and large pieces can travel to the lungs and heart. A blood clot filter implant, also known as Inferior vena cava filters or IVC filters, are cage-like devices that are designed to prevent clots from traveling through the vena cava vein to these organs.

Blood clot filters are implanted in patients who have an increased risk of developing blood clots in the legs and cannot be successfully treated by other methods, which include patients:

• Diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
• With pulmonary embolus
• Who are trauma victims
• Who are immobile
• Who have recently had surgery or delivered a baby

How Does a Blood Clot Filter Work?

The blood clot filter looks like a tiny metal spider. It is placed inside the IVC vein through a minor surgical procedure. Once deployed, its “arms” rest against the sides of the vein, holding it in place. The device then forms a sort of “basket” or screening device.

Blood can flow through the basket without difficulty, but blood clots cannot. A clot will become lodged in the arms of the device, and in theory, will not be able to make it to the heart or lungs where it could cause serious damage.

Blood Clot Filter Implant Dangers

Unfortunately, blood clot filters can be dangerous. They have a history of breaking or migrating. This can lead to a long list of serious health risks, including:

• Tilting of the blood clot filter inside the vein, allowing clots to move past it
• Fracturing of individual legs, which can lodge in the heart or lungs
• Movement of the entire blood clot filter into the heart or lungs
• Perforation of the vena cava itself

These conditions can cause bleeding, hemorrhaging, heart failure or sudden death. Virtually all of these circumstances require blood clot filter removal surgery.

There is also concern about the blood clot filters’ effectiveness. For example, one study found that patients with filters actually had a higher rate of blood clots from deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

More than 35% of patients with filters experienced DVT in the study, while only 27% experienced it without filters. The blood clot filter may actually be causing the very condition it was designed to prevent.

Blood Clot Filter Removal

Some blood clot filters are designed to be removed, but most are not. For instance, the Recovery blood clot filter by C.R. Bard as well as the G2 and G2 Express blood clot filter implant are meant to be permanent.

This makes blood clot filter removal very risky, especially if the blood clot filter implant is faulty or defective.

Filing a Blood Clot Filter Lawsuit

In 2010, the FDA issued a safety communications warning regarding retrievable blood clot filters. The FDA’s warning stated that hundreds of adverse event reports had been received since 2005 and that the filters posed risks of filter fracture, device migration and organ perforation.

There are numerous lawsuits pending against blood clot filter manufacturers, including C.R. Bard and Cook Medical, on behalf of individuals and their families who have been hospitalized with an injury or suffered a wrongful death due to a failed blood clot filter implant.

Many of these legal claims cite negligence, failure to warn, poor design and manufacturing defects on the part of the manufacturers.

If you or a family member has suffered adverse effects from a failed blood clot filter, you may be entitled to be compensated for your injuries. Contact an experienced medical device attorney for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.