This is Michael Brady Lynch, lead trial attorney for The Michael Brady Lynch Firm.
The case against the safety and effectiveness of the IVC filter just moved up a notch.
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation announced that all pending IVC Filter cases against C.R. Bard, Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular will be consolidated and transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Arizona before the Honorable David G. Campbell. It is anticipated that more than 200 cases will be immediately transferred with hundreds more to follow.
Optional retrievable Inferior Vena Cava filters were originally cleared by the FDA through the 510K process. They were designed as permanent filters that could also be removed and were introduced to the market as retrievable filters in 2003. On July 13, 2015, the FDA cited Bard for failing to report adverse events associated with these filters and for illegally selling the device designed to retrieve these filters.
Prior to putting the filter on the market, Bard was well aware that these filters were associated with serious side effects, but withheld this information from physicians. Specifically, Bard knew the filters would fracture, perforate the vena cava, surrounding vessels and organs, and migrate to the heart, causing death and open surgical procedures at rates statistically higher than competitor products and 30 times higher than its original predicate device.
Recent medical studies revealed that these filters offer very little, if any, the benefit to patients and the failure rates for these devices are as high as 40% after 5 years of implant. To date, Bard has sold more than 500,000 of these devices.
About the Firm: The Michael Brady Lynch Firm is a trial firm with a focus on pharmaceutical mass tort cases involving SSRI and Anti-Seizure Medication Birth Defects including Lexapro, Zoloft, Effexor, Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Depakote and Topamax, Xarelto bleeding injuries, Mirena IUD, Actos Bladder Cancer, Invokana ketoacidosis, Testosterone heart attack and stroke injuries and medical device cases including DePuy Hip and Trans-Vaginal Mesh cases. Contact us today if you or someone you know has experienced side effects involving these products.