Defective IVC Filters and Tort/Injury Law

An inferior vena cava (IVC) filter is a metal, caged-shaped medical device used to help prevent fatal blood clots. They are used primarily in patients who are at risk of blood clots but are unable to take blood thinning medication.

Numerous manufacturers of IVC filters have come under fire for potential defects in the design of the products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received dozens of reports of fatalities and hundreds of injuries stemming from these filters. Some of the most common injury complaints the FDA has received include:

• Blood clots
• IVC filter fracture
• IVC filter migration
• Perforation of the vena cava or an organ

Contact a compassionate defective devices attorney to begin your claim against a defective IVC filter.

IVC Filter Failure

When an IVC filter fails, the patient may experience extreme and debilitating pain, or they may have no symptoms at all. Pain could be the result of pieces of the filter perforating an organ or vein, or it could be from a blood clot. A IVC filter patient should seek immediate medical attention if they experience pain or other symptoms associated with IVC filter failure.

If you have had an IVC filter placed, consider contacting your medical provider to discuss other alternatives, especially if you have one of the following filters.

Titanium Greenfield

Manufactured by Boston Scientific of Massachusetts, the Titanium Greenfield is a permanent IVC filter that gained FDA approval in 1989. Boston Scientific also makes the Stainless Steel Over-the-Wire Greenfield, a permanent IVC filter that was FDA-approved in 1995.

Cook Celect

Cook Medical Inc. of Indiana makes the Cook Celect, a permanent IVC filter that was initially approved by the FDA for permanent use in 2007. The next year, the FDA approved a retrievable Cook Celect filter. Cook also makes the Gunther Tulip, approved by the FDA in 2000 for permanent use and in 2003 as a retrievable filter.

G2

C.R. Bard, manufacturer of the G2 IVC filter, got this filter approved by the FDA in 2005 for permanent use, with a retrievable G2l filter approved in 2008.

Duty to Provide

Under defective product injury law, medical device manufacturers owe a duty of care to consumers (patients) that they have taken reasonable care in the design of their product. If there are issues or flaws with a device design that could cause risks to a patient and that the manufacturer could have reduced or avoided, the manufacturer may be found negligent for marketing an unsafe product.

IVC Filters fall into this category of unsafe products. Not only did these companies design a defective device, they were aware of the inherent dangers and failed to warn doctors and patients of the serious associated risks of injury and death.