The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has ruled to consolidate all pending federal Cook IVC filter lawsuits in a multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. At the time of its filing, the litigation included 27 Cook IVC filter lawsuits pending in eleven districts. Since then, the case count has risen to approximately 100.
Cook IVC filter lawsuits filed on behalf of patients injured by failed Cook Celect and Gunther Tulip IVC filters allege that Cook Group, Inc., marketed defectively designed products and failed to adequately warn doctors and patients about the health risks posed by their devices.
IVC filters such as Cook’s Celect and Gunther Tulip filters have been in use for roughly 50 years, with hundreds of thousands of devices implanted in the United States. IVC filters are designed to prevent blood clots from forming in and traveling throughout the body, thereby reducing the risk of strokes and other life-threatening events. However, the devices have proven to be potentially fatal in themselves. Numerous studies have found that fragments of IVC filters, and sometimes entire devices, can break away and become lodged in vital organs.
Cook Celect and Gunther Tulip IVC filters have also been found to pose a very high risk of vena caval perforation. A study published in the April 2012 issue of CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology found that of the 23 Gunther Tulip and 27 Celect IVC filters observed, all exhibited some degree of vena caval perforation after 71 days. Additionally 40 percent were observed to have become tilted or misaligned within the vena cava.
In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety alert warning about the dangers of long-term IVC filter use. The agency stated that it received 921 adverse event reports about IVC filters beginning in 2005. The reports included problems ranging from filter fracture and migration to perforation of the inferior vena cava.
Cook IVC filter lawsuits are not the only IVC filter lawsuits that plaintiffs have tried to have consolidated. Plaintiffs in lawsuits against Bard have also filed a motion to consolidate their cases before a single judge in a multidistrict litigation.
Recent years have seen a number of Bard IVC filter lawsuits. Plaintiffs allege that as early as 2003, Bard possessed data showing that the company’s Recovery IVC filter posed an unreasonably high risk of injury due to splintering or dislocation. Bard allegedly did not inform the FDA of this unreasonable risk, and continued to market its potentially dangerous device.
Earlier this year, Lopez McHugh attorneys succeeded in securing damages for a plaintiff in the second Bard IVC filter lawsuit in the nation to go to trial. The parties entered a confidential settlement during trial.
Consult your health care provider about any health concerns you may have. If you or a loved one was injured by a failed Cook or Bard IVC filter, you should contact the attorneys at Lopez McHugh now for a free legal consultation. You may be eligible to receive compensation through your own Cook or Bard IVC filter lawsuit.
