The lawsuit was filed by Jaleigh H., a woman who was implanted with the Cook Celect® Vena Cava Filter on May 27, 2011 at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah.
Celect is a filter with 12 needle-like wire legs attached to a retrieval hook. It is implanted in a vein called the inferior vena cava (IVC), where it catches blood clots to prevent pulmonary embolisms.
Celect was approved in 2007, but it did not go through clinical trials before it hit the market. The problem is that recent studies show increasing rates of side effects the longer Celect remains implanted.
In a study from 2012, 86% of Celect filters caused a perforation in 5 months. Some caused symptoms or organ damage. The researchers recommended:
Penetration appears to correlate with indwelling time, suggesting that the filter should be removed as soon as [pulmonary embolism] protection is no longer indicated.”
Not all perforations cause symptoms or require treatment. In some cases, the filter becomes embedded in the vena cava, severely tilted, clogged with blood clots, or extremely challenging to remove safely.
In another study from 2015, 43% of Celect filters caused a perforation within 2 months. In 2012, a study found that all Celect filters had “some degree” of perforation within 71 days.
Cook Medical is facing hundreds of lawsuits from people who were injured by complications like IVC filter perforation, fracture, tilt, migration, blood clots, organ damage, heart problems, and death.
The lawsuit was filed on December 7, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis Division) — Case No. 1:16-cv-03309.
It will be centralized with over 1,100 other IVC filter lawsuits now pending in Multi-District Litigation (MDL No. 2570)— In Re: Cook Medical, Inc., IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation.
The plaintiff is represented by Ben C. Martin and Thomas Wm. Arbon of The Law Offices of Ben C. Martin.
Ben C. Martin is a trial attorney based in Dallas, Texas who serves as the plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel in the Cook IVC Filter MDL.
Editor’s note: For more information about IVC Filter lawsuits and your legal rights, please contact The Law Offices of Ben C. Martin.