The lawsuit was filed by David F., a man from Pennsylvania who was injured by the Günther Tulip® Inferior Vena Cava Filter (“IVC Filter”) manufactured by Cook Medical Inc.
The IVC filter was implanted on June 8, 2013 at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Pennsylvania by Dr. Jeffrey L. Hung for the purpose of catching blood clots and preventing pulmonary embolisms.
Unfortunately, a number of studies show that IVC filters are not very effective at saving lives, and often cause life-threatening side effects instead — especially when they are not removed.
For example, in April 2012, a study published in the journal Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology found that nearly 100% of Cook Günther Tulip and Cook Celect IVC filters punctured the patient’s vein within 71 days of placement. Furthermore, 40% were tilted out of position.
Researchers concluded that vein perforations were the “rule rather than exception after longer indwelling times for the Günther Tulip and Celect retrievable filters,” meaning longer than 2-3 months.
In March 2013, another study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine questioned the effectiveness of IVC filters, noting that less than 10% were ever successfully removed and 8% of patients suffered a pulmonary embolism despite having an IVC filter.
The study was titled, “The IVC Filter: How Could a Medical Device Be So Well Accepted Without Any Evidence of Efficacy?”
In May 2014, the FDA warned doctors to remove IVC filters within 29-54 days, or as soon as the patient’s risk of blood clots subsided, suggesting that doctors were not adequately informed about the importance of removing IVC filters.
Over 4,000 other IVC filter lawsuits have now been filed nationwide against several manufacturers, with about 50% against Cook Medical.
All of the lawsuits make similar allegations that manufacturers did not adequately test IVC filters for safety, continued selling IVC filters with high rates of major complications, and downplayed the side effects.
The lawsuit was filed on May 26, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis Division) — Case No. 1:17-cv-01762.
The lawsuit will be centralized with nearly 2,000 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.