The lawsuit was filed by Carol M., a woman from Pennsylvania who was injured by the Günther Tulip® Inferior Vena Cava Filter (“IVC Filter”) manufactured by Cook Medical Inc.
Günther Tulip® Inferior Vena Cava Filter
The IVC Filter was implanted on October 27, 2005 for the purpose of preventing a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs) by Dr. Jeffrey Carpenter at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center.
The Günther Tulip® is one of the oldest and most widely-used IVC filters in the United States, but it has been linked to serious safety problems in numerous studies.
For example, a study in 2013 found that 43% of patients who were implanted with the Günther Tulip developed a vein perforation. This complication occurs when the wire legs of an IVC Filter puncture through the wall of the inferior vena cava.
Vein perforations do not always cause symptoms, but they often make the IVC Filter harder to remove. In some cases, doctors are unable to retrieve the filter and it must remain implanted permanently. IVC Filters that puncture the vein also sometimes puncture nearby organs.
Cook Medical is charged with 8 counts of strict products liability (failure to warn, design defect), negligence, negligence per se, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, punitive damages, and fraudulent concealment.
The lawsuit was filed on August 24, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis Division) — Case No. 1:17-cv-02919-WTL-DML.
It will be centralized with around 2,350 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.
