Cook Medical faces an IVC filter lawsuit filed by a Tennessee woman, which alleges that she suffered severe injury as a result of the Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter.

Plaintiff Crystal K. alleges that the IVC filter designed to “catch” blood clots before they travel to the lungs actually caused her an undisclosed injury which prompted her to file a short form complaint joining hundreds of others in alleging Cook Celect Vena Cava filter devices are defective and dangerous.

What is a Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter?

Retrievable IVC filters, like a Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter, are small cage-like wire devices inserted in the inferior vena (a major vessel returning blood from the lower half of the body to the heart).

IVC filters capture blood clots to prevent them from traveling to the lungs and causing a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs), which can be deadly.

Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter devices are used on people at risk of a pulmonary embolism who cannot take anticoagulants or have previously taken blood thinners that did not help them.

These filters, also know as IVC or blood clot filters, are designed to be implanted in the body for a limited amount of time and removed when the danger of pulmonary embolism has passed.

However, concern has grown that too many IVC filters are not being removed in a timely manner and instead allowed to remain in the body and expose patients to unnecessary risk.

Vena Cava Filter Complications

In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its first safety alert regarding the increase of adverse reports related to IVC filters, like those manufactured by Cook Medical.

Since then, the FDA and numerous studies have shown a widespread failure on the part of doctors to remove these devices once they are deemed no longer necessary.

IVC filter complications may include:

• Pulmonary embolism
• Infection or a hematoma at the access puncture site
• Damage to the vena cava
• Damage to the tissue and organs surrounding the vena cava
• Hemorrhage
• Filter movement to the heart or lungs
• Fracture of the filter in the vena cava
• Filter not positioned correctly in the vena cava
• Death

Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter Litigation

In October 2014, IVC filter lawsuits against Cook Medical were centralized in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in a federal court in Indiana.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order that centralized over two dozen IVC Filter lawsuits pending in 11 district courts into the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Federal judges selected Indiana because half of the IVC filter lawsuits against Cook, which is based in Indiana, have already been filed there.

Multidistrict litigation claims against Cook Medical allege its IVC filter devices, including the Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter, caused harm to patients, including device migration, fracture, tilting, and perforation.

Multidistrict litigation refers to a special legal procedure designed to speed up the process of trying complex cases by grouping them together under one judge.

If you or a loved one suffered IVC filter side effects such as migration, IVC perforation, DVT, or pulmonary embolism after being implanted with a Cook Celect Vena Cava filter or other IVC filter device, you may have a legal claim.

Crystal’s Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-2225 filed within the larger multidistrict litigation known as 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, Indianapolis Division.