What Patients Need to Know About Blood Clot Filter Problems
Have you or someone you know experienced migration and other side effects after having a C.R. Bard inferior vena cava filter implanted? If so, you may be entitled to file a legal claim for compensation.
Medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard has been in the spotlight lately regarding the failure associated with their G2 IVC filter series. These filters were created to replace its initial Recovery filter. However, fatal flaws were associated with G2 filters device that left patients suffering the consequences.
Rather than recalling the G2 filter, the device manufacturer kept these on the market until 2010, for a period of five years, and more than 160,000 of these devices were sold. Hundreds of problems and at least 12 deaths have been associated with the G2 series filters.
An inferior vena cava filter is a medical device implanted inside the patient’s largest vein, called the inferior vena cava. The device returns blood from the body to the heart and was designed to capture blood clots along that pathway that could cause pulmonary embolisms. The primary manufacturer of these devices is C.R. Bard.
The FDA has approved IVC filters to treat the following medical conditions:
- Chronic pulmonary embolisms when use of an anticoagulant failed
- Emergency treatment after a massive pulmonary embolism
- Thromboembolic diseases in which anticoagulant therapy failed
- Pulmonary embolism
What Patients Need to Know About Blood Clot Filter Problems
Their first-generation filter, the Recovery, was introduced in 2003 and the second generation G2 filter was introduced in 2005. The FDA received more than 900 reports between 2005 and 2010 about serious negative side effects associated with IVC filters breaking down including:
- Filter fracture
- Device migration
- Detached device components
- Filter perforation
Further research on this brand of IVC filters revealed widespread blood clot filter problems. Some physicians now believe the filters were never safe to be implanted in the first place. Approximately 250,000 individuals across the United States each year receive these implants, but many may be unaware of the deadly blood clot filter problems that can result. When the G2 version replaced the initial Recovery filters, similar adverse event reports were filed by patients.
Documents from Bard indicate that the data showed a high rate of blood clot filter problems. The G2 filter, in particular, had more reported problems, migrations, and fractures than any of the similar products on the market.
Although the IVC filters maintain a history of many adverse event reports and concerns shared by physicians, patients now want to know why the company kept the G2 filters on the market for so long when concerns and injuries were indicated much earlier. Blood clot filter problems can cause death if not captured quickly.
If you or someone you know has already been negatively affected by the G2 IVC filter, you may face grave risks. Contacting your physician immediately is strongly recommended if you have not done so already.
If injuries have already occurred, you may be able to file a legal claim for compensation. The lawyers at Bradley/Grombacher have a track record of helping victims who have suffered due to defective medical devices. Contacting them today for a free consultation about your case.
