A popular blood clot filter implant, used by thousands of Americans, may actually place patients at a greater risk of developing blood clots, which can be fatal.

The safety of the blood clot filter is currently in hot debate, including the question of whether or not the device’s manufacturer was aware of the device’s problems and if they concealed this information.

According to an NBC News investigation, at least 27 deaths can be attributed to the Recovery blood clot filter, an IVC filter sold by Bard. Besides ultimately fatal complications, the Recovery blood clot filter has also been linked with a series of around 300 non-fatal problems.

Dodi F. was implanted with her blood clot filter after she was severely injured in a car accident, which placed her at a higher than average risk of developing blood clots. The blood clot filter was intended to stop blood clots from reaching her heart or her lungs. However, Dodi reports that the implant almost killed her.

Just four months after she was implanted with the blood clot filter device, Dodi says she began experiencing a severe headache, ultimately passing out. Emergency services were called.

“In that two seconds of being in the ambulance, I started flat-lining,” remembers Dodi.

Hospital tests revealed the cause of the pain and emergency: a piece of Dodi’s blood clot filter implant had actually broken off, piercing her heart. As a result, Dodi was forced to undergo emergency open-heart surgery.

The situation was serious, according to Dodi. “My family was notified,” she said. “The priest was brought in.”

Though she was in great danger, Dodi was lucky. Not everyone who is implanted with a blood clot filter like the Recovery filter has been able to escape fatal consequences.

Gloria A. received a blood clot filter implant after experiencing a brain aneurysm. According to her son Kevin, Gloria was fine when she was discharged from the hospital after implantation. However, she died suddenly a week later.

The autopsy revealed that the blood clot filter, instead of stopping a clot, allowed a clot to push the device into her heart and puncture it.

After Bard began being targeted in reports of device complications, Bard hired a public-relations company to help it deal with the issue. In a further effort to repair the company’s reputation, Bard had an outside doctor conduct a study, which it kept confidential. However, NBC News got a hold of the study’s results.

The study reportedly found that the Recovery filter had a higher risk of death, filter fracture, and filter movement than its competitors. The doctor who conducted the study urged that there be immediate further investigation.

Despite this study and reports of fatalities and other complications, Bard did not recall the Recovery device. In fact, Bard continued marketing the device as they had before, selling about 34,000 of the implants.

After another three years, the company took the Recovery device off the market, only to replace it with a modified version of the blood clot filter called G2, according to the investigation.

In a statement, Bard officials said that its filters have been “appropriately cleared by [the] FDA based on required and accurate documentation and that when used as instructed they demonstrate significant benefits to patients.”

However, what Bard didn’t mention in the statement is that getting FDA clearance took the company quite a while. The original application for FDA approval for the Recover filter was rejected.

What is a Blood Clot Filter Implant?

A blood clot filter, or IVC filter, is intended to prevent serious problems associated with blood clots. The device is inserted into a patient’s inferior vena cava (IVC), the largest vein in the body.

Most patients who receive blood clot filter implants do so because their bodies can’t handle blood thinner medications. About 250,000 patients received blood clot filter implants each year.

Potential IVC filter complications that can lead to extreme danger include:

• Vein perforation
• Organ perforation
• Device migration/breakage
• Pulmonary embolism

If you or someone you know has experienced serious blood clot filter problems, such as organ perforation, you may have cause to file a blood clot filter lawsuit.