The dangers of IVC filters - and action you can take

Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) filters were first introduced in the late 1960’s. An IVC filter is a type of vascular filter that is implanted into the inferior vena cava to prevent pulmonary emboli (PE), which is a blood clot in the lungs. Certain IVC filters have been used successfully as permanent implants. For example, the Simon Nitinol Filter has been used since the early 1990s with very few reported complications.

In the early 2000s, two medical device companies - Cook and Bard - began to heavily market IVC filters that were advertised to be removable or retrievable. At the time, doctors thought that they could put these filters in and either leave them in or go back and safely take them out whenever they saw fit. The introduction over the last several years of optional retrievable IVC filters has lead numerous complications.

These retrievable IVC filters are theoretically more practical for trauma and bariatric patients who only have a temporary need for such a medical device. Here’s the problem: Over 85% of these “retrievable” IVC filters have ever been actually retrieved. Manufacturers like Bard sold these “retrievable” IVC filters as a permanent filter with a retrievable feature. The filters are little wire cages shaped like upside down umbrellas that are placed in the largest vein in the body and they are supposed to catch clots before they travel from the legs to the lungs or the heart or the brain, which is usually fatal.

The companies didn’t tell the doctors how long the filters could stay in the body before they caused dangerous life threatening complications. Filters broke, traveling through the body until they would penetrate blood vessels or vital organs, including the heart. The filters themselves would move or migrate to a location that was not safe. There have been studies that showed after only a matter of days or weeks, some of these filters would actually become embedded in the wall of the veins – meaning that they can’t be removed – and they might even cause blood clots themselves...which is the very problem that they were supposed to protect against.

According to the FDA, IVC filter complications my include the device breaking, moving or migrating, tilting within the inferior vena cava, puncturing the vein or organs, and becoming embedded in the vein to the point of being impossible to remove. Complications caused by a defective IVC filter may include:

a life-threatening condition involving bleeding in and around the heart known as “cardiac tamponade.”
Internal bleeding
Perforation, puncture, and other damage to the inferior vena cava wall and/or the heart or lungs.
Hematoma or nerve injury at the puncture site.
Constant, severe pain in the chest, heart, or elsewhere.
Pulmonary embolus (the very condition the device was designed to prevent).
Respiratory distress.
Infection
Death

One of the most terrible things about all this is that there is evidence that at least one of the companies - Bard - knew about some or all of these problems but didn’t warn the doctors or patients while they kept selling filters.

The manufacturers involved in lawsuits that we are handling are Cook and Bard. These are called multidistrict litigations - or MDLs. What this means is that no matter where a patient lives or where he or she is injured, the lawsuit can be filed in a single federal court where one judge is handling all the legal issues, and the lawyers like us representing the hundreds of patients across the country are all sharing information and working together to hold these companies accountable.

If you were harmed by an implanted IVC, or if a loved one was harmed or died due to complications from an IVC filter, there may be a case against the IVC filter manufacturer. Contact Phelan Petty Injury Lawyers today for a free consultation.

Phelan Petty Injury Lawyers
3315 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23230
Phone: (804) 980-7100
https://phelanpetty.com/defective-med...