An inferior vena cava filter lawsuit was recently filed against Cook Medical Inc., the makers and manufacturers of the Gunther Tulip vena cava filter, alleging severe adverse side effects and complications.

Plaintiff Valerie H. filed the inferior vena cava filter lawsuit, joining a growing multidistrict litigation (MDL) against the company. The lawsuit was filed in Indiana federal court on June 20, 2018.

According to the inferior vena cava filter lawsuit, Valerie is a resident of the state of Ohio. She says that she became implanted with the Gunther Tulip vena cava filter on July 2, 2005 at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The inferior vena cava filter lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including failure to warn, design defect, negligence, negligence per se, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, Violations of Applicable Ohio Law Prohibiting Consumer Fraud and Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices, and punitive damages.

Overview: Inferior Vena Cava Filter Lawsuit

Valerie’s inferior vena cava filter lawsuit was filed as part of a large multidistrict litigation (MDL) centered on allegations that patients implanted with the filter system suffered severe adverse effects and complications, and unexpectedly more so that what they were expected to experience from warnings and information provided to them. A single MDL is thus a collection of lawsuits that helps facilitate and expedite faster processing of claims.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Gunther Tulip Vena Cava Filter is crafted as an alloy made up of several different metals. It becomes inserted into a patient’s inferior vena cava; a large vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the body’s lower extremities back up to the heart and lungs for replenishment.

The Gunther Tulip became approved by the FDA in 2003. Its purpose is to catch blood clots, preventing them from traveling upwards to the lungs or heart while concurrently allowing blood flow to travel. The filter also helps prevent the occurrence of a pulmonary embolism in which one or more arteries in the lungs becomes blocked by a blood clot.

Symptoms of a defective or damaged Gunther IVC filter may include: shortness of breath, nausea, heart rhythm problems, lightheartedness, hypotension, stroke, and severe chest pain. Complications linked to the Gunther IVC filter have included the device tilting out of position or migrating out of its initial place of implantation; device fracture, leaving parts and fragments of the IVC filter within a patient’s bloodstream, causing even more adverse events and complications, and punctured organs such as of the lungs, heart, vena cava or other tissue. Patients who begin to suffer from these conditions will be required to undergo the removal of the IVC filter.

The Inferior Vena Cava Filter Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-01883-RLY-TAB, in the U.S District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. The Cook IVC Filter MDL is in re: Cook Medical, Inc, IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2570, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.