Bard IVC Filter cases across the country transferred to federal court in Arizona

PHOENIX - Aug. 25, 2015 - PRLog -- In a transfer order filed Monday, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) announced that all present and future federal product liability lawsuits against inferior vena cava filter (IVC filter) manufacturers, C.R. Bard, Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. (BPV), will be centralized in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the District of Arizona.

IVC filters are intended to catch blood clots before they travel to the lungs causing a pulmonary embolism.   The Bard IVC Filters in question are alleged to have defects in their design causing internal injuries as a result of the device fracturing, tilting, migrating, or puncturing the vena cava.

According to the panel, the District of Arizona is the most convenient location for the MDL.  The panel states that the federal courthouse in Downtown Phoenix is not burdened by many MDLs, and that BPV, one of the Bard entities named in the legal proceedings, is located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.

^{Warnings and Reports:}

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety warning in 2010, citing more than 900 adverse event reports filed with the agency in five years time.

A study published in the April 2013 edition of Jama Internal Medicine, found that less than 10% of retrievable IVC filters surveyed were successfully removed and 8% of persons surveyed still suffered venous thrombotic events while the IVC filter was in place.

In 2014, the FDA issued an updated communication to doctors recommending that IVC filters be removed within one to two months once the need for the filter has passed; the agency noted that doctors may not have previously been made aware of the urgency surrounding retrieval of the device.

^{Help for Victims:}

Located in Central Phoenix, the IVC filter lawyers of the Arentz Law Group are prepared to assist victims nationwide to seek compensation as part of the Bard IVC filter MDL, which has been consolidated to the U.S. District Court of Arizona. The Arentz Law Group has had tremendous success in the Grand Canyon State, and, with its partner firms, has recovered more than $1 billion in settlements and verdicts on behalf of injured consumers.

In a press release issued last month, the firm announced that free legal consultations have been made available to all IVC filter patients.  To claim the offer, IVC filter patients can call 1-800-305-6000 or fill out the form located on the Arentz Law Group's IVC filter information page. Additional information, conversations, and updates can be found on the IVC Filter Legal Help Center facebook page.