The lawsuit was filed by Toni P., a resident of Nevada who was implanted with the C.R. Bard Meridian® Vena Cava Filter in September 2014.
Meridian is a temporary filter that is implanted in the inferior vena cava (IVC) to catch blood clots and prevent pulmonary embolisms. It was approved in 2011 without clinical trials because it was “equivalent” to other C.R. Bard IVC filters.
C.R. Bard pulled Meridian off the market in August 2013, but it was never recalled. It is nearly identical to several other filters that were withdrawn without recalls and replaced by “new” filters with very similar designs.
Some of these filters have been linked to serious safety risks. One is the C.R. Bard Recovery, which was withdrawn from the market in 2005 and later associated with a 40% 5-year fracture-risk.
Another highly-similar filter is the C.R. Bard G2, which was introduced in 2005 and withdrawn from the market in 2010. Like the Recovery, recent studies have associated the G2 with a 38% 5-year fracture-risk.
Meridian has 12 needle-like wire legs arranged around a central hook. Fracture is a very serious complication. If the legs break off, they can travel in the bloodstream until they get stuck in the heart or lungs.
C.R. Bard is accused of selling defective medical devices and failing to warn about side effects.
The lawsuit was filed on December 1, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona — Case No. 2:16-cv-04158.
It will be centralized with over 1,100 other IVC filter lawsuits now pending against C.R. Bard in Multi-District Litigation (MDL No. 2641)— IN RE: Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation.
The plaintiff is represented by Ben C. Martin of The Law Offices of Ben C. Martin in Dallas, Texas. He serves as plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel in the Cook IVC Filter MDL.
