The lawsuit was filed by Leon G., the widower of Janice G., a woman from Tennessee who died after she was implanted with a Günther Tulip® Inferior Vena Cava Filter (“IVC Filter”) manufactured by Cook Medical, LLC.
Günther Tulip® Inferior Vena Cava Filter
The IVC Filter was surgically implanted in her vein for the purpose of preventing blood clot complication on July 21, 2016 by Dr. George D. Gonzales at Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tennessee.
IVC Filters are supposed to save lives by catching blood clots and preventing pulmonary embolisms. Unfortunately, IVC Filters can also cause severe, life-threatening injuries — including sudden death.
These dangerous side effects were recently illustrated in a case report titled “Fracture and Embolization of an Inferior Vena Cava Filter Strut Leading to Cardiac Tamponade”. The report describes a 56 year-old woman who nearly died when her “permanent” Günther Tulip IVC Filter broke apart within 6 years.
The woman required emergency open-heart surgery to remove the broken pieces of the IVC Filter. The needle-like wire legs of the IVC Filter traveled in her bloodstream and punctured her heart, resulting in a severe irregular heart rhythm disorder known as cardiac tamponade. The woman survived, but the condition is often fatal.
Lawyers accuse Cook Medical of downplaying serious side effects of the Günther Tulip IVC Filter and selling a defective medical device.
The lawsuit was filed on July 27, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis Division) — Case No. 1:17-cv-02545-WTL-TAB.
The case will be centralized with approximately 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.
