Several serious vena cava filter complications have been linked with the IVC filter procedure, including vein and organ perforation and device migration and breakage that can severely injure patients.

These complications can be serious enough to lead to IVC filter removal, and some injured patients have turned to file inferior vena cava filter removal lawsuits, alleging that the device may have caused more damage than it was worth.

Inferior Vena Cava Filter Procedure

An Inferior Vena Cava filter, also known as an IVC filter, is a device used to prevent blood clots from entering parts of a patient’s body that can do great harm, especially the lungs and heart. A blood clot entering these organs is dangerous, and can cause serious complications such as a pulmonary embolism.

However, recent reports have suggested that these devices may do more serious harm than good. Moreover, inferior vena cava filter removal lawsuits across the country claim that inferior vena cava filter complications may be even more harmful than the clots themselves.

Inferior vena cava filters are implanted in a patient’s main artery to prevent blood clots from moving into a patient’s lungs and heart. Over time, this allows the clot to dissipate.

However, hundreds of patients have sent adverse event reports to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the past ten years regarding inferior vena cava filter complications, such as punctured organs and filter migrations. These issues can have a huge impact on a patient’s health.

Inferior Vena Cava Filter Complications

Blood clotting can cause major complications for patients, and even place them at risk of death. Many patients and their doctors choose to use an inferior vena cava filter procedure in order to prevent blood clots from entering the lungs or heart.

Inferior vena cava filter placement is inside the inferior vena cava, the largest vein in the human body. The inferior vena cava returns blood back into the heart and then on to the lungs. Blood clots in this vein are therefore extremely dangerous.

Blood clots which travel to the lungs can turn into a pulmonary embolism (PE) which cuts off blood flow to the lungs. A pulmonary embolism is a serious danger. PE causes about 300,000 deaths every year, though they are preventable with the right measures. One of these available measures is an inferior vena cava filter procedure.

Vena cava filter complications can occur if the device is defective, or if the initial inferior vena cava filter placement was not done properly. If an inferior vena cava filter is slightly out of position, it can be forced even more out of its proper placement over time, which can be extremely dangerous for a patient and their organs.

While the first step in alleviating inferior vena cava filter complications like these is vena cava filter removal, in some cases this procedure can be too dangerous. However, in a worst case scenario, failure of vena cava filter removal can actually lead to pulmonary embolism, placing the patient at severe risk.

Inferior Vena Cava Filter Procedure Lawsuits

Inferior vena cava filter lawsuits
across the United States are claiming that the device may be too dangerous for patients that undergo the procedure. Lawsuits allege that the vena cava filters are not worth the risk, given that the devices themselves may be more harmful than the clots.

The FDA has responded to these claims against the inferior vena cava filters’ safety, recommending that the devices only be used on a temporary rather than permanent basis, and only if medications or other treatments are deemed ineffective.

Injured patients have filed lawsuits against a number of inferior vena cava filter makers, citing organ damage due to filter migration and breaks, as well as other serious vena cava filter complications. If you or someone you know has undergone complications due to inferior vena cava filters or their removal, you may have cause to file an inferior vena cava filter lawsuit.

Filing a lawsuit does not repair the damage, but can help compensate for the physical, emotional, and financial losses felt as a result of these devices.