A multidistrict litigation trial over Bard vein filters has ended in a $3.6 million IVC filter jury verdict. Although Bard has requested a new trial or new judgment, an Arizona federal court denied the requests.

The plaintiff, Sherri B., alleges she was implanted with a Bard G2 IVC filter when she was 37. She claims the implantation itself went well, without complication, but the filter broke apart in 2009.

Pieces of the broken device traveled and lodged in Sherri’s heart and spine, she claims, necessitating open heart surgery. Unfortunately, even open heart surgery couldn’t remove all of the pieces, and some shards remain and cause ongoing complications.

Sherri’s trial was the first bellwether trial of a multidistrict litigation involving Bard’s IVC filters. The MDL involves around 3,700 other similar cases. Bellwether trials are used to give attorneys on both sides a sense of how the trials will go in general, which can help both sides in settlement negotiations.

Sherri’s bellwether IVC filter jury verdict found that Bard was liable for negligently failing to warn Sherri’s doctor about the G2 filter’s risks. The IVC filter jury verdict awarded $2 million in compensatory damages, as well as another $2 million in punitive damages. $3.6 million of this amount will be provided by Bard. The IVC filter jury verdict required that the remaining $400,000 of the award would be provided by a radiologist, who the jury found missed signs that Sherri’s G2 filter was beginning to fracture in an X-ray earlier in 2009.

IVC Filter Complications

An IVC filter, also known as an inferior vena cava filter, is a medical device implanted in a patient’s main vein to prevent blood clots from moving into a patient’s lungs and heart and causing serious damage, including risk of death. However, a growing number of reports in recent years have suggested that these IVC filter devices themselves can cause serious injuries and complications, including IVC filter perforation.

Sherri is not the first to file a lawsuit against Bard over IVC filter perforation and other side effects. Lawsuits likes this one are being filed across the U.S., claiming that the product can be too dangerous for patients—in some cases, more dangerous that the complications they are meant to treat­­­.

According to these lawsuits, IVC filter devices are not worth the risk they pose to patients. The patients claim they had not been adequately warned about these serious side effects.

Adverse event reports filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past decade show that hundreds of patients have suffered from IVC filter side effects from punctured organs to filter migration, causing serious or permanent problems.

Filing a Bard IVC Filter Lawsuit

Injured patients have filed lawsuits against a number of IVC filter makers, including Bard. These lawsuits cite organ damage due to IVC filter perforation, migration and breaks, as well as other serious complications.

If you or someone you know has undergone complications due to retrievable IVC filters, you may have cause to file a Bard IVC filter lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit does not repair the damage, but a favorable IVC filter jury verdict or a settlement agreement can help compensate for the physical, emotional, and financial losses felt as a result of these devices.