C.R. Bard is facing a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a California woman, alleging that complications with a G2 IVC filter caused her death.

The IVC filter lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Christopher and Shannon C., the surviving spouse and daughter, and administrators of the estate of Jannette C.

Jannette had the Bard IVC filter implanted in November 2009 for treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the lawsuit says.  The small, spider-like filter is designed to catch blood clots that may break free, preventing them from traveling to the lungs.

According to the wrongful death IVC filter lawsuit, design defects with the Bard G2 IVC filter caused the device to perforate Jannette’s bowel, resulting in severe injury, from which Jannette died on July 4, 2013.

The family indicates that Bard knew, or should have known, that its G2 IVC Filter posed a risk of breaking free from its implantation site, migrating, perforating internal organs and causing serious injury or death, according to the IVC filter lawsuit.

IVC Filter Complications

Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filters are meant to prevent death by capturing blood clots before they can enter the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism. IVC filters can also have deadly side effects.

Bard began receiving complaints regarding IVC filter device malfunctioning as early as 2004.  Although the company knew about device failures, it allegedly did not disclose this information.

In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced receiving nearly 1,000 serious adverse event reports associated with IVC filters.

IVC Filter Deaths

In November 2010, the Archives of Internal Medicine published a study by Dr. William Nicholson and colleagues at York Hospital in Pennsylvania. They evaluated 189 people who received a temporary Bard Recovery (withdrawn in 2005) or a Bard G2 IVC Filter between April 2004 and January 2009.

There were 35 deaths during the study, and many patients experienced severe IVC filter complications — 16% (13/80) had at least one strut fracture, and of these cases, 25% fractured and traveled in the bloodstream (embolized). In five cases, broken pieces of the IVC filter traveled to the heart, and three victims had life-threatening changes in heart rhythm or fluid accumulation around the heart (cardiac tamponade). One victim died suddenly at home.

IVC Filter Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Bard is facing several hundred lawsuits by patients who have had the Recovery and G2 IVC filters implanted, resulting in injury or death. Plaintiffs claim that the company marketed poorly designed devices and failed to warn about potential risks.

If your loved one’s death was caused by an IVC filter, you may be eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer. This type of lawsuit alleges that a family deserves financial compensation for a death that was caused by a defendant’s negligence.

The IVC Filter Wrongful Death Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-01418-TLN-CKD in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division.