A Mississippi man has filed a Celect IVC Filter lawsuit against the manufacturers of the medical device, claiming they downplayed the device’s risks.

Plaintiff Kenneth S. of Mississippi, was implanted with the Cook Medical Celect Platinum Vena Cava Filter on Dec. 16, 2014, his Celect IVC filter lawsuit states. He underwent surgery at King’s Daughter Medical Center in Brookhaven, Miss.

According to his Celect IVC filter lawsuit  , Kenneth believes that Cook Medical did not communicate the risks of their inferior vena cava devices adequately and even downplayed their problems.

The Daily Hornet reports that the Celect Platinum is an “optional” filter that may be used for temporary or permanent use.

What is an IVC Filter?

An inferior vena cava filter, or IVC filter, is a small device shaped similar to a cage that is placed inside the main vein of the body, the inferior vena cava, to catch blood clots before they travel to the heart or lungs.

When patients have lower body surgery, blood clots can form. IVC filters are intended to keep clots from traveling to the heart and lungs. If a blood clot travels to the heart or lungs it can result in a pulmonary embolism.

Unfortunately, IVC filters have been linked to severe problems. Because of this, many patients have filed legal claims, including Kenneth’s Celect IVC filter lawsuit.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that the most commonly reported IVC filter complications include IVC thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis, access site thrombosis, filter migration, caval penetration and filter fracture.

The Celect IVC Filter is different from other filters because it has secondary struts, according to the Daily Hornet. These secondary struts are there to enable device retrieval even if the other parts of the device are imbedded in the vein.

Recent studies have cited an unprotected primary strut design flaw as the reason behind the Celect filter’s exceptionally high rate of injuries from vein penetration.

Another study reviewed 73 Celect patients and found that, immediately after they were implanted, 6.5% of the Celect IVC filters tilted. The study also found that about two months after implantation, several patients had filter related complications including strut penetration, fractures and embolization of broken pieces.

In 2014, a different study that looked at Celect patients found vein penetration occurred at a rate of 39% within 30 days and 80% within 90 days. The risk increases over time, the study found.

In this same study, 13% of the Celect filters penetrated through the vein into a surrounding organ including the diaphragm, kidney, lymph node, liver, pancreas and aorta among others.

Kenneth’s Celect IVC Filter lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-00408 and is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. The Daily Hornet reports that it will be centralized with nearly 1400 other IVC filter lawsuits in MDL No. 2570 In Re: Cook Medical Inc., IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation.