An IVC filter warning issued by the FDA is cause for concern for those patients who have received inferior vena cava filters.
These IVC filters are designed to capture blood clots, but may fracture or migrate, according to many IVC filter warnings.
New research suggests that the medical community has already started to move away from the use of these devices after a rising number of issues.
IVC filters are spider-like devices that are approved for use with individuals who are at a high risk of suffering from a pulmonary embolism.
However, while these are designed to capture blood clots that could potentially be a life-threatening situation, thousands of individuals have sustained IVC filter injuries, prompting the FDA to analyze medical research to issue an IVC filter warning.
These devices were designed to be retrievable after the high risk of a blood clot has passed, however, the IVC filter warning indicates that patients may be at high risk of serious complications and side effects.
The medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine recently published that the rising use of IVC filters has declined in recent years due to greater concerns about the IVC filter warning and safety issues.
Doctors are now being more selective when discussing the options to minimize the risk of pulmonary embolism with patients.
Since 1979, there were 2,000 procedures to implant IVC filters and in 2005, that number per year had grown to more than 104,000.
The study then analyzed the trends between 2005 and 2014, looking at discharge data and determine why the IVC filters were placed.
There were 322.1 filter placements for every 100,000 hospitalizations. That trend continued on an uphill spike until 2010 with a peak of 412 patients.
Then it began to drop significantly. The percentage of filter placements for preventative or prophylactic reasons has also been on the decline as a result of more people concerned about the IVC filter warning.
In 2010, the FDA officially announced that they had received more than 900 adverse event reports linked to IVC filters, including more than 300 situations in which the IVC filter broke apart into different pieces and migrated throughout the body.
The 2010 turning point for the use of IVC filters has been significant for that reason.
In 2014, the IVC filter warning was updated by the FDA when the agency encouraged doctors to take out IVC filters up to two months after a person was no longer at risk of suffering from a pulmonary embolism.
The risk of severe side effects and fracture and migration was much higher the longer that a patient kept the filter in place.
Many people who initially became aware of the FDA IVC filter warning also had to take legal action to protect their interests by filing a lawsuit..
These lawsuits have been filed by the thousands across the country from those patients who say they were never warned about the serious side effects associated with these devices in advance.
The attorneys at McDonald Worley can help you file an IVC filter lawsuit. Call today for a free case review.