Latest injury verdict against company with ‘defective’ IVC filters brings payouts to $7M
A federal jury found that C.R. Bard’s IVC blood clot filters are defective and responsible for injuries. It’s the fourth such ruling since May and brings the combined lawsuit winnings up to $7 million.
Dallas-based law firm Martin Baughman is representing several hundred patients who have reported injuries due to the problematic filters. The most recent verdict on July 21 found a filter led to serious complications after it fractured in a patient, awarding the plaintiff $386,250 in damages. The largest of the four lawsuits totaled $3.3 million.
“Patients have no idea there’s a difference in different brands, that one might be more dangerous than another. The doctors assumed they were all the same,” trial lawyer Laura Baughman said in a statement. “It’s up to the manufacturer to tell the truth, but it was against their financial interest to do so.”
At one point, Bard, a subsidiary of publicly traded Becton, Dickinson and Company, faced more than 8,000 similar lawsuits. The firm says all implantable devices come with inherent risks and its own product has complication rates "well below" Society of Interventional Radiology guidelines. Becton, Dickinson and Co. is looking into appeals options.
“Our IVC filter products are cleared for use by [the] FDA and continue to offer lifesaving benefits that have helped tens of thousands of patients for more than 15 years,” Becton Dickinson spokesman Troy Kirkpatrick told the Dallas Morning News on Monday. “These facts are reflected in the many BD IVC filter cases in which courts and juries have ruled in the company’s favor.”
In this most recent case, the jury determined Bard was not negligent in its device use warning.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.