Jury Awards Victim $34 Million for Defective IVC Filter

Jury Awards Victim $34 Million for Defective IVC Filter

Rex Medical and Argon Lose in Court over Defective IVC Filter

Big Pharma has long put profits ahead of people. And too often, Big Pharma just gets away with it. Fortunately, for one Georgia woman, a jury dealt the powerful industry a mighty blow last week. The jury ruled in favor of Tracy Reed-Brown and awarded her a total of $33.7 million in punitive damages and compensation for her defective inferior vena cava (IVC) filter.

The Inferior Vena Cava and the Filter

There have probably been at least a few years since most of us were in a health class, and that’s okay. Here’s a quick refresher…

The inferior vena cava is a large vein that is responsible for carrying deoxygenated blood from the lower and middle body to the heart.

The IVC filter is a medical device implanted in the inferior vena cava. In theory, the filter should catch blood clots and prevent them from passing through the vena cava, ultimately causing a pulmonary embolism.

What’s more, manufacturers marketed these filters as temporary and easily removable once the patient was no longer at risk of suffering blood clots and pulmonary embolisms.

Unfortunately, it turns out Big Pharma companies like Rex Medical/Argon, C. R. Bard, Cook Medical, and Cordis did not do their due diligence when creating and clinically testing these devices. They also have not properly warned people about the danger these filters pose.

If You Have a Defective IVC Filter, You May Have a Case

Since 2005, about 100,000 Americans have received IVC filter implants each year.[1] In 2010, Ms. Reed-Brown was one of many. Surgeons implanted her IVC filter because she was susceptible to blood clots. In 2016, she returned to the hospital because the device had broken apart and dislodged.

The IVC filter, which was supposed to prevent serious injury, wound up perforating not only her vena cava, but also several other surrounding organs. Worse still, doctors were unable to retrieve the device. As a result, the IVC filter remains in Ms. Reed-Brown’s body and poses a danger to her life as long as it is there.

Bard, Cook, Cordis, Rex/Argon, and companies like them bear all the responsibility for manufacturing and marketing these defective medical devices. With hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans implanted with these devices, the total damage is hard to quantify.

However, thousands of people have already come forward to file IVC filter lawsuits. Here at the Yost Legal Group, we are committed to helping victims seek the justice they deserve.

If you or a loved one has suffered injury or complications related to an IVC filter implant, contact the experienced defective medical device attorneys at the Yost Legal Group today at 1-800-YOST-LAW. We will provide a free initial consultation and help you find the answers. There is no expense unless you recover.

[1] Moore PS, et al., “Trends in Vena Caval Interruption” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20304583 (March 20, 2010)