A year-long investigation by NBC Nightly News has raised serious questions about why medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard, Inc. continued to sell and market its inferior vena cava (IVC) filters even after it seems to have become aware that its filters were failing and causing death and other serious injuries at rates significantly higher than other similar devices.
NBC’s two-part investigative piece, which aired earlier this month, highlights the story of Lopez McHugh client Dodi Froehlich. The 45-year-old mother of two from Florida nearly died after a Bard Recovery IVC filter broke apart inside her body, launching a metal strut into her heart and forcing her to undergo emergency open-heart surgery.
Lopez McHugh has worked for years to protect the rights of Dodi and dozens of people like her across the country who have been injured or seen a family member killed by complications related to a Bard IVC filter.
On August 17, the JPML ordered the transfer of all federal lawsuits filed over allegedly defective retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filters made by medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard, Inc. to the District of Arizona. Lopez McHugh LLP is litigating a large number of the Bard IVC cases, and has been for the past four years. We have prepared multiple state and federal court cases for trial and most recently tried a case in the Federal District Court in Reno, Nevada, which resolved favorably for our client on day 11 of trial.
Because of the nature of the defect in this product, and the fact that tens of thousands of the devices remain implanted in patients, we believe potential cases still exist and others will develop over time. Lopez McHugh is accepting referrals of these cases and would welcome a co-counsel or referral relationship with any firm that receives inquiries about or is currently working on an IVC filter case.
Headed by Ramon Rossi Lopez, Lopez McHugh has been litigating cases relating to IVC filters manufactured by C.R. Bard, Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc., as well as devices manufactured by Cook Medical. We have dedicated substantial resources and time to investigating and developing these cases and look forward to continuing to be at the forefront of this litigation.
The primary Bard IVC filters, which are the subject of the more than 100 clients we currently represent, are the RECOVERY, G2, G2 EXPRESS, ECLIPSE, MERIDIAN and DENALI models. Primary focus has been and should be on the earlier 510k devices, RECOVERY AND G2/G2 EXPRESS. As for the Cook Medical devices under investigation, we are investigating cases involving the Gunther Tulip, Celect, and Celect Platinum.
Medical and scientific evidence demonstrates that Bard’s retrievable IVC filters, in particular, are prone to an unreasonably high risk of failure and patient injury. Multiple studies have reported that Bard’s IVC filters have a fracture and migration rate of 21 percent to 31.7 percent. This far exceeds the reported fracture rates of comparable devices. Similarly, multiple studies and medical articles have reported that Bard’s IVC filters pose a greater risk of perforating the inferior vena cava than do similar devices.
Bard’s internal documents and trending reports support this, as well as strong evidence that Bard was aware that these devices posed an unreasonable risk of harm (their words), and as such knowingly and in conscious disregard of patients’ rights and safety, continued to market adulterated, mislabeled and misbranded medical devices, requiring voluntary recalls of at least the RECOVERY and G2 models. There also exists clear and convincing evidence of concealment, fraud and misrepresentation, explaining why Bard continues to fail in their challenges to our punitive damages claims.
We have already filed and are actively pursuing significant injury and wrongful death cases in multiple states and in federal court. With offices in California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and affiliate counsel in Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, New Mexico, and Washington, DC, along with our working relationship with firms in virtually every other state, we feel uniquely equipped and qualified to handle these and other cases on behalf of clients throughout the country.
The lawyers in our firm have extensive experience in IVC filter litigation and proven success in drug and medical device litigation over the past 35 years, including cases involving breast implants, diet drugs (fen-phen), PPA, Baycol, Zyprexa, Guidant and Medtronic cardiac devices, Ketek, Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents, Pain Pumps, Vioxx, Avandia, drug-eluting coronary stents (Cypher and Taxus), Kugel mesh (also manufactured by Bard), transvaginal mesh (including those manufactured by Bard), Chantix, and Pradaxa.
In addition to IVC Filters, our firm is currently litigating the following cases: SGLT2 inhibitors, Granuflo, Testosterone, Incretins, Benicar, Lipitor, as well as transvaginal mesh, and metal on metal hip prostheses. We serve on various leadership committees in those being litigated in an MDL or state-coordinated proceeding. We are in active, serious settlement negotiations in some, and anticipate favorable resolutions in others over the ensuing six to 12 months.
If you have questions or want to discuss this litigation further please call Lopez McHugh at (877) 237-4350.
