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IVC Filter Claims

2023 Update

We are still accepting IVC Filter cases with diagnosed complications.

IVC Filter lawsuits are filed for filters that malfunction, fracture, perforate, tilt and migrate causing serious injuries, including, pulmonary embolisms, strokes, heart damage, deep venous thrombosis or death. Six jury verdicts have been rendered for plaintiffs and include:

Rex/Argon Verdict

$33.7 Million Rex/Argon Option IVC Filter: Tracy Reed-Brown v. Rex/Argon 10/19 PA

Cook Verdicts

$3 Million Cook Celect IVC Filter:  Tonya Brand v. Cook  2/19 IN

$1.2 Million Cook Celect IVC Filter: Jeff Pavlock v. Cook Medical  5/18 TX

C.R. Bard Verdicts

$3.60 Million Bard G-2 IVC Filter: Sherr-Una Booker v. C R Bard  3/18 AZ

$2.55 Million Bard Recovery IVC Filter: Shanequeia Wright v. C R Bard 5/21 TX

$926,000 Bard Eclipse IVC Filter: Justin Peterson v Bard 5/21 OR

Cordis IVC Filter

No verdict to date

Four IVC Filter Multi-District Litigations are centralized in courts as follows:

  1. Rex and Argon IVC Filter – The cases are before Judge Arnold New in the Court of Common Pleas Trial Division – The Philadelphia Courts:

     2. Bard IVC Filter – The cases are before Judge David Campbell in Phoenix, Arizona  IN RE: Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation |

      3. Cook IVC Filter – The cases are before Judge Richard Young in the Southern District of Indiana MDL Case Information | Southern District of Indiana | United States …

      4. Cordis IVC Filter – No verdict to date.  The cases are centralized in California.

We must prove that the IVC filter was defectively designed and manufactured, then deceptively marketed to the medical providers, which resulted in injury or death to our clients. This requires expert analysis of medical records, scientific research and epidemiologic studies, internal confidential corporate documents, and governmental regulatory standards. Your medical records are the best evidence of your injuries and we have expertise in maximizing your damages and recovery based upon your own health records. Summaries of the verdicts to date follow:

$33.7 Million Argon/Rex Option IVC Filter Award

$33.7 Million was awarded by a Philadelphia jury in the first bellwether trial in the Philadelphia inferior vena cava filter mass tort litigation. On October 28, 2019, the jury found that Rex Medical and Argon Medical Devices defectively designed the Option IVC filter device. Judge Michael Erdos of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas presided over the trial, which began on October 8, 2019. The plaintiff, Tracy Reed-Brown, filed the action in March 2017, alleging the Option Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filter System that was implanted perforated through the walls of her vena cava causing her severe injuries.

$3 Million Cook IVC Filter Award

$3 million in compensatory damages was awarded to Tonya Brand against Cook Medical IVC filter on February 1, 2019 after a jury found her Celect IVC Filter was defectively designed. The filter fractured and migrated through her body to her thigh forcing her to undergo an open laparotomy surgery.  The two week bellwether trial was heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana with Judge Richard Young presiding. In July 2010, surgeons attempted to remove the broken IVC filter but were unsuccessful.  Then, finally in October 2015, surgeons were able to remove what was left of the filter device. Cook Medical moved for judgment as a matter of law, arguing the evidence did not support the verdict.

$1.2 Million Cook IVC Filter Award

$1.2+ million was awarded against Cook, Inc. to a Houston, Texas firefighter on May 24, 2018. Jeff Pavlock was implanted with a Cook inferior vena cava to prevent blood clots from traveling to his heart, lungs or brain in March 2015. However,  the filter tilted after implantation, perforated his aorta and duodenum requiring two additional unsuccessful surgeries to retrieve the device. The jury found that Cook didn’t properly warn the implanting surgeon about the risks of IVC filters. The case was tried by David Matthews, Tim Goss and Rich Freese in Judge Larry Weiman’s district court.

$3.6 Million Bard IVC Filter Award

A Phoenix federal jury awarded $3.6 million against Bard on March 30, 2018. Sherri Booker’s Bard IVC filter broke apart and lodged in her heart forcing her to undergo emergency life-saving surgery. The open heart surgeons were able to remove portions of the fractured filter, yet some fragments remain lodged in her body. The jury found that Bard was responsible for 80 percent of the harm and is liable for punitive damages. This was the first bellwether trial in the Bard IVC Filter litigation before Judge David Campbell with thousands of IVC filter lawsuits filed.

$2.55 Million Bard Recovery IVC Filter Award

A Texas federal jury ordered the manufacturers of the Bard Recovery to pay Schaneiqua Wright $2,197,892 in damages plus $351,268 for future medical costs in June 2021. Ms. Wright’s Bard Recovery IVC filter was implanted in July 2005 to reduce the risk of a blood clot traveling to her lungs. The Bard Recovery IVC Filter remained in place for more than 12 years. In January 2018, Wright developed blood clots in her lungs, as the IVC filter had fractured, sending debris into her heart and lungs.

$926,000 Bard Eclipse IVC Filter Award

In May 2021, an Oregon federal jury awarded $926,000 to Justin Peterson for injuries he suffered when a Bard Eclipse IVC filter perforated his vena cava and duodenum leading to massive bleeding. Justin was rushed to the hospital, required emergency open abdominal surgery to retrieve the filter and repair the damaged blood vessels and small intestine. The Bard Eclipse IVC filter was placed in 2010 and five years later, Justin suffered the life-threatening complications.

Carolyn   St. Clair was selected to serve the IVC Filter litigation committee overseeing bellwether jury trials. As reported by NBC News in 2015: Why Did Firm Keep Selling Problem Blood-Clot Filters? – NBC News

FDA Safety Communication

The FDA issued a safety communication May 6, 2014 for IVC filter removal, suggesting it should be removed between 29 and 54 days after implantation. However, the vast majority of cases allege the filters were not removed timely causing dangerous injury or death to the patients.Watch the IVC Filter NBC News stories here: NBC News IVC Story.

Serious symptoms and conditions that need immediate medical treatment include:

  • Death
  • Clot in the lungs exhibited by chest pain or difficulty breathing
  • Cardiac or pericardial tamponade
  • Internal bleeding
  • Tachycardia or irregular heart rhythm
  • DVT – deep venous thrombosis – clot in the legs or pelvis
  • Hematoma or nerve damage at the puncture site
  • Infections

Malfunctions include: 

  • Fracturing the spider-like struts of the filter,
  • Tilting of the device,
  • Migration of the filter,
  • Perforation of the struts into the Heart, Lungs or Vena Cava

Free Medical Legal Consultation

Contact Us for a free medical legal consultation before your time to file a claim runs out. We understand the difficult issues you are facing now and in the future. Our firm has the trial expertise and financial resources to aggressively prosecute these cases to successful resolution. We look forward to hearing from you.

NBC Nightly News Uncovers IVC Filter Fractures

NBC uncovered further failures with other Bard Blood Clot Filters, the Bard G2 and G2 Express, linked to 12 deaths. This is the third in a series of investigations on 39 deaths associated with patients implated with Bard filter devices.

NBC News investigative reports that at least 27 deaths have been associated with Bard Recovery filter — a spider-shaped apparatus that is inserted into the largest vein in the body to prevent blood clots. Government data shows approximately 300 other non-fatal problems have also been reported with the Recovery, which is one of thousands of medical products sold by C.R. Bard.

Blood Clot Filter
Did Blood-Clot Filter Used on Thousands of Americans Have Fatal …

Dangerous Blood Clot Filter
Did Forged Signature Clear Way for Dangerous Blood-Clot Filter …

 IVC Blood Clot Filters Multidistrict Litigation (MDL)

Howard Nations and David Matthews have been appointed to the Plaintiffs Steering Committee (PSC) in both the Cook IVC Filters MDL and Bard IVC Filters MDL. Carolyn St. Clair serves on the bellwether selection committee.

Cook IVC Filters Perforation Study

A study published in 2012 in Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, found that a staggering 100 percent of the Cook IVC filters perforated the study participant’s venal wall within 71 days of implantation. The inferior vena cava filter in 40 percent of study participants was found to have tilted away from its original optimum position for capturing wayward blood clots from the leg. Another study in Annuals of Vascular Surgery in April 2013 urges removing the IVC filters as soon as no longer needed to prevent fatal complications.

Patients also have developed post thrombotic syndrome after IVC filter implantation.

Blood Clot Filters investigated include:

Bard:

  • Recovery (on the market beginning April 2003)
  • G2 (on the market beginning October 2005)
  • G2 X
  • Eclipse
  • Meridian
  • Denali

Cook:

  • Gunther Tulip
  • Celect

Cordis

  • Optease
  • Trapease

Rex/Argon

Retrieval of the filter may or may not be possible, depending on the make and model of the filter, the associated complications, symptoms exhibited and location where the device may have traveled in the body. These may be serious life threatening complications, so do not delay. There are strict time limits to retrieve your medical records identifying your manufacturer and file a claim.

Since the introduction of the retrievable temporary IVC filter, the FDA has received over 1000 adverse reports concerning fragmentation and embolization within the body. The FDA issued a safety warning on August 9, 2010 entitled “Removing Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava Filters: Initial Communication”, which warned against leaving IVC filters in for extended periods of time, because they have a tendency to cause life threatening problems. In a 2012 study, a 12% rate of filter fracture was reported to be associated with the IVC filters was found.

The researchers also found that the rate of filter fracture increased with the amount of time the implant was in the patient’s body. Unfortunately, just more than 50% of fractured IVC filters could be successfully removed. Although the body of the filter can often be removed successfully, the spider-like legs (or “struts”) often fracture and move to a position where retrieval is impossible. Product Identification is key as there are many permanent filters implanted that are not included in the subject of this litigation.

Free Medical Legal Consultation

Contact Us for a free medical legal consultation before your time to file a claim runs out. We understand the difficult issues you are facing now and in the future. Our firm has the trial expertise and financial resources to aggressively prosecute these cases to successful resolution. We look forward to hearing from you.

Medical Legal Trial Expertise

With decades of success, Carolyn St. Clair understands the multiple health, legal and financial issues that overwhelm injured clients in multidistrict litigation (MDL), class actions, and individual lawsuits in federal and state courts. St. Clair’s experience as an operating room nurse with world-renowned heart surgeons Dr. Denton Cooley and Dr. Michael DeBakey, and as a Supreme Court briefing attorney in Texas, lends a swift analysis of the damages and liability of each case. St. Clair enhanced her education with negotiation, mediation, and arbitration at the Harvard Law School Negotiation Institute. Lawyers, clients and medical professionals refer injured people to her firm. In further recognition of her abilities, St. Clair was selected to serve the IVC Filter litigation committee overseeing bellwether jury trials.

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