C.R. Bard G2 X® Inferior Vena Cava Filter
The lawsuit was filed by Tami B., a woman who from Florida who was injured by the G2 X® Inferior Vena Cava Filter (“IVC Filter”) manufactured by C.R. Bard Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc.
The filter was surgically implanted in her body on December 1, 2009 while she was living in Florida, but her injuries occurred in Iowa and she is currently a resident of Nebraska.
The G2 is one of Bard’s most problematic IVC filters on the market. It was introduced to replace the Recovery, Bard’s 1st-generation IVC filter that was pulled off the market and linked to a 40% five-year risk of fracturing.
In 2010, a study linked the Recovery and G2 IVC filters with a high risk of fracture and embolization of broken pieces to the heart. The researchers warned:
The Bard Recovery and Bard G2 filters had high prevalences of fracture and embolization, with potentially life-threatening sequelae.
In a more recent study published in June 2014, the estimated five-year fracture risk for the G2 was 38%. Several patients developed major complications when fractured pieces traveled to their lungs, heart, pericardium, iliac vein, kidney, or could not be located.
Bard sold approximately 160,000 G2 IVC filters between 2005 and 2010, when it was pulled off the market without any recalls or safety warnings. Hundreds of injuries and at least 12 deaths are now linked to the G2, according to a NBC News investigation.
C.R. Bard is accused of negligence for selling a defective medical device and failing to warn about safety risks. The plaintiffs bring 3 counts of strict products liability (manufacturing defect, failure to warn, and design defect).
The defendants are also charged with 11 counts of negligence in design, manufacture, warnings, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligence per se, breach of implied and express warranty, violations of state law prohibiting consumer fraud and unfair or deceptive trade practices, and punitive damages.
The lawsuit was filed on April 10, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona — Case No. 2:17-cv-01046.
C.R. Bard is facing around 1,500 lawsuits involving IVC filters 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 a trial attorney who serves as plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel in the Cook IVC Filter MDL and is on the plaintiffs’ steering committee of the Bard 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.