The lawsuit was filed by Jeanne C., a woman from Michigan who was implanted with the Günther Tulip® Inferior Vena Cava Filter (“IVC Filter”) manufactured by Cook Medical and William Cook Europe ApS.
The IVC Filter was surgically implanted in her inferior vena cava for the purpose of catching blood clots and preventing a Pulmonary Embolism (PE) or a Venous Thromboembolism (VTE).
The IVC Filter was implanted on August 7, 2006 by Dr. Kenneth Granke at John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan.
Cook Medical is accused of failing to warn about safety risks, manufacturing and selling a defective device, negligence, breach of implied and express warranty, fraudulent concealment, and more.
Many studies have linked the Günther Tulip® with life-threatening side effects. For example, in one recent study, the IVC Filter fractured and broken pieces traveled in the patient’s bloodstream until they hit the heart.
This caused a complication known as cardiac tamponade, in which the heart beat is irregular and it fails to supply adequate blood to the body.
The lawsuit was filed on December 26, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis Division) — Case No. 1:17-cv-04732-JMS-TAB.
It will be centralized with thousands of additional IVC filter lawsuits. The lawsuits are pending in a federal 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.