An IVC filter lawsuit recently filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Maryland alleges that the plaintiffs Greenfield IVC filter device failed. The device received sometime prior to 2004 migrated migrated away from the original point of insertion and perforated her vena cava, causing a number of health complications, including severe pain, weight loss, shortness of breath, asthma, and confusion.
The lawsuit filed alleges that although Boston Scientific had knowledge of the unreasonably dangerous and defective nature of IVC filters as early as 2004, the company ignored the risks and continued to actively market and sell the Greenfield IVC filter.
What are IVC Filters?
IVC filters are used to prevent pulmonary embolism (PE), a potentially preventable cause of death in hospitalized and other high-risk patients. The probability of PE increases with the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and treatment for both PE and DVT is anticoagulation, but in instances when blood thinners are not appropriate, an IVC filter is used instead.
They are inserted through an artery and deployed with spider-like legs designed to both catch blood clots before they find their way to the lung and cause what could potentially be a fatal pulmonary embolism, and to hold the filter in place at the intended insertion point.
Retrievable inferior vena cava filters (rIVCF) were designed to provide temporary prevention from pulmonary embolism and then be removed when they are no longer necessary. However, concern has grown that too many IVC filters are not being removed in a timely manner and instead allowed to remain in the body, exposing patients to unnecessary risk.
IVC Filter Lawsuits
Recent inferior vena cava (IVC) filter lawsuits have alleged failure or migration of the filter, causing in some cases serious health issues. The Greenfield IVC filter, manufactured by Boston Scientific, is only one of several IVC filter manufacturers, including C.R. Bard and Cook Medical, which are facing similar lawsuits.
Cook faces more than 100 lawsuits pending in federal multidistrict litigation in the Southern District of Indiana involving its Celect and Gunther Tulip filters, and C.R. Bard is named in approximately 50 lawsuits involving the company’s Recovery, G2, and G2 Express IVC filters.