August 11 Marks Date to Consider Class Certification in IVC Filter Litigation

On August 11, 2017, U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell will be hearing oral arguments in Arizona federal court to decide if class certification will be established for IVC filter plaintiffs. The proposed class action lawsuit seeks medical monitoring services for plaintiffs who were implanted with an IVC filter and who are seeking to avoid complications as a result of the device placement.

Approximately 1,300 IVC filter lawsuits are pending against C.R. Bard due to problems reported with the company’s retrievable IVC filters.

IVC filters are implanted in the inferior vena cava, the body’s largest vein, in patients who are at risk of having blood clots travel from the lower extremities to the lungs where it can lead to a pulmonary embolism. Serious consequences and even death may result from a pulmonary embolism, so this device can be life-saving for patients.

However, plaintiffs who filed lawsuits within the IVC filter litigation have alleged that the product is riddled with design and manufacturing defects that cause the IVC filter to tilt, migrate, fracture, and perforate internal organs. If the device or its parts travel to other parts of the body, it can cause severe consequences, and in some cases, death.

The IVC filter litigation was initially consolidated into a multidistrict litigation in August 2015 under Judge Campbell. When a large number of lawsuits against a defendant contain similar allegations, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation can elect to centralize the lawsuits to one federal court under a single judge in order to conserve resources for pretrial proceedings and to avoid conflicting rulings that may be issued from different courts.

Judge Campbell has already established a plan to hear bellwether trials in the IVC filter litigation which will allow several test cases to be heard in order to see how juries will respond when presented with testimony and evidence that is common to the lawsuits in IVC filter litigation.

In addition to the issues brought forth by the individual plaintiffs in the IVC filter litigation, C. R. Bard is facing a class action lawsuit brought forth by patients who currently have a filter implanted.. These patients wish to seek financial coverage to pay for medical monitoring to make sure that the device stays in its proper place and is not fractured and to treat these complications if they do arise as soon as possible.

A joint status report in the IVC filter litigation that was released on July 7 stated that the hearing to discuss class certification will be held August 11 and that the parties were to meet on July 13 in order to discuss how the August 11 hearing will be conducted. Specifically, the parties involved will determine if the Court will be expecting the parties to present fact or expert witness at the class certification hearing.

Additionally, the status report indicated that on August 10, a Science Day will be conducted. During this time, counsel for the defendants and the plaintiffs, respectively, will each have the opportunity to deliver non-adversarial, informational presentations on the scientific issues that will be raised in the IVC filter litigation.  

The C.R. Bard IVC filter litigation will continue following the class action hearing when later this year the bellwether trials will be conducted. Though not binding to future cases that will be heard in the IVC filter litigation, their outcome may influence the potential settlements in future cases.

If you or a loved one suffered injuries from an IVC filter, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the experienced attorneys at McDonald Worley today for a FREE case evaluation. 

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