A group of patients who filed lawsuits over Cook Medical’s Celect filters have requested that upcoming IVC filter bellwether trials be set on the same schedule.

This request comes as a response to Cook Medical’s plan to have the IVC filter bellwether trials staggered across an entire month.

In response, the patients have argued that, if the first case ends up being settled or even delayed, the other cases should be ready to step up as the first of the IVC filter bellwether trials in its stead.

Cook medical’s plan would allow for potentially significant delay in this case.

According to the plaintiffs, Cook Medical seeks to gain from this potential delay.

“Rolling the dice in this manner may be acceptable to Cook, who would benefit from the resulting delay, but it leaves the court with an undesirable monthlong gap in its trial schedule and leaves the hundreds of plaintiffs whose cases are pending in this MDL waiting until mid-2018, nearly two years from now, to see the first MDL case come to trial,” argued the plaintiffs.

IVC Filter Basics

IVC filters are devices used to prevent potentially dangerous blood clots from traveling into the heart or the lungs, which could have fatal complications.

These devices are implanted into the inferior vena cava, the largest vein in the human body.

The inferior vena cava is an extremely important vein, tasked with carrying blood from the lower body back into the heart. This means that a blood clot obstructing this vein can be extremely dangerous.

These dangers have caused many patients to have an IVC filter implanted, preventing such conditions.

However, a growing number of patients who have been implanted with IVC filters are filing lawsuits claiming that the devices can also cause harmful or even fatal IVC filter complications.

IVC Filter Side Effects

Devices may break, causing pieces to damage surrounding organs, or migrate, also causing vein or organ perforation.

This complaint and others like it allege that Cook Medical failed to disclose to physicians or patients that its Celect IVC filter device may be irremovable from the vena cava after transplant.

Many IVC filter lawsuits have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation, also known as an MDL.

IVC Filter Lawsuits

IVC filter lawsuits across the country allege that the devices are not worth the extra risk involved.

Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has responded to and acknowledged the risk, noting that hundreds of patients have reported serious IVC filter complications, including organ perforation and filter migration.

While the FDA acknowledges the need for some patients to prevent dangerous clotting, the agency has recommended that these filters only be used on a temporary basis, and only as a last resort, in order to avoid more serious complications.

According to IVC filter lawsuits, including those involved in the upcoming IVC filter bellwether trials, the device’s manufacturers failed to adequately warn the public and the medical community about the risks involved with implantation of their devices, placing company profit over patient safety.

If you or someone you know has experienced IVC filter complications like organ perforation, you may have cause to file an IVC filter lawsuit.

Filing an IVC filter lawsuit cannot repair the physical damage a patient suffers, but can help compensate for the physical, emotional, and financial losses felt as a result of these devices.