IVC Filter Lawsuits Increase Against Cook Medical, Allegations State Devices Can Potentially Damage Vital Organs

June 27, 2016 – – TheProductLawyers.com reports on allegations made by plaintiffs, who have used IVC filters manufactured by Cook Medical, and claim that the devices were made defectively. They claim that the devices have created life-threatening situations due to apparent breakage and migration to other parts of the body away from the original insertion points. A number of studies have been conducted which support plaintiffs’ claims that the devices are prone to breakage and migration. Several lawsuits have claimed that the pieces of the filter travel through the bloodstream and have punctured veins or organs, in some cases have become embedded in the intestines, as well as settling in “high risk” locations. When the pieces become embedded into these risky locations surgeons are unable to remove the pieces. Such inability to remove them has left many patients with an uncertain future, and long-term medical issues.

IVC filter devices are surgically implanted into a patients’ inferior vena cava veins in order to capture meandering blood clots emanating in the lower body from reaching the heart and lungs, which could induce a pulmonary embolism. These small cage-like devices are often used in patients who are unable to take blood thinner medications. Implantation should be temporary according to the FDA, being removed after the threat of pulmonary embolism is no longer present.

In October of 2014, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) decreed that a multidistrict litigation (MDL) be created to expedite the litigation of the lawsuits since they all were against the same defendants and embodied similar allegations related to the migration and breakage of the devices in the body. Attorneys and plaintiffs have been getting ready for the trial that has been scheduled for the fall in early September of 2016.

Plaintiffs and their attorneys are hoping that a settlement can be reached. In March 2016 a settlement conference was scheduled but later postponed since the defendants needed more time to prepare. The settlement conference was designed to bring all the parties together before a U.S. Magistrate Judge to negotiate a possible settlement, rather than going to trial. As of this date, no subsequent scheduling of the conference has been announced.

For more information on IVC filters, to ask questions or to schedule a consultation, contact an attorney at Banville Law by calling (888) 997-3792.

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Contact TheProductLawyers.com:

Banville Law
888-997-3792
info@banvillelaw.com
165 West End Ave #1h,
New York, NY 10023

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