The IVC in IVC filter stands for inferior vena cava, the major blood vessel in which these filters are designed to be implanted.

The inferior vena cava is the main vein that carries blood from the lower body back to the heart and lungs.

Blood clots that form in the lower body may travel via the inferior vena cava to the upper body – towards the heart and lungs, where they can do some serious damage.

These clots can cause conditions like pulmonary embolism, an extremely painful and potentially deadly condition in which a clot gets lodges inside one of the patient’s lungs.

Patients with certain medical conditions may be at an increased for forming such clots. Recent hip or knee replacement surgery patients could be at risk, as could those who have suffered serious trauma.

And with that increased risk of clotting in the lower body comes an increased risk of pulmonary embolism.

Doctors have a few options at their disposal to mitigate this risk. One alternative is to prescribe anticoagulant drugs. But medication is not a viable alternative for some patients. In that case, a doctor may elect to implant an IVC filter.

The filter is a small basket-like device made of metal wires radiating from a central node. It gets implanted in the inferior vena cava, where if all goes as intended, it will trap and hold blood clots, preventing them from advancing to the heart and lungs.

Inferior Vena Cava Filter Injuries

Unfortunately, things don’t always go as intended with these devices. Failure of these devices may lead to inferior vena cava filter injuries that can leave the patient suffering from painful or dangerous complications.

Some of the more severe inferior vena cava filter injuries have resulted from filters that fracture or detach from their proper position. These mishaps can result in filter fragments or even the entire filter traveling through the bloodstream.

These parts may find their way into the heart, risking significant damage and making extraction particularly complicated. In some cases, the risks of extraction surgery may be greater than those of leaving the filter in place. The patient then lives with the malfunctioning filter inside their body, remaining at risk for future complications.

In other cases, filters have been known to puncture the blood vessel wall and nearby organs or tissues.

Filters may only migrate slightly or tilt out of position. Cases like these may not present a serious threat of inferior vena cava injuries.

But they may cause the filter to lose its effectiveness in preventing blood clots, leaving the patient exposed to the risk of blood clot injuries that the filter was intended to prevent.

IVC Filter Lawsuits

Complications like these have gotten filter manufacturers in a considerable amount of legal hot water.

Many patients who suffered from inferior vena cava filter injuries have since become plaintiffs in products liability lawsuits against the products manufacturers, alleging the companies failed to warn them about the risks associated with their devices.

Cook Medical, Boston Scientific, and C.R. Bard have all been on the receiving end of these IVC filter lawsuits.

Claims against Cook and Bard over inferior vena cava filter injuries became numerous enough that the federal court system consolidated them into mass tort actions, known as multidistrict litigations, in the interest of processing the exchange of evidence and pretrial procedures more efficiently.