On January 15, 2019, in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, a New York woman filed a vein filter injury lawsuit, claiming the filter was defective and caused unnecessary injuries which required multiple surgeries to correct. In the lawsuit the woman, known as Susan R.B., states she underwent a surgical procedure on June 20, 2017 at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. During the procedure, performed by Dr. Michael Ryan, P.A., she had an Option ELITE Vena Cava Filter, better known as a “vein filter,” implanted with the purpose of catching blood clots and preventing a pulmonary embolism.
However, soon after the procedure, the patient began to experience difficulties. According to her lawsuit, shortly after the vein filter was implanted, it became tilted. Because of this, it became embedded in her vein, then perforated through the vein, forcing doctors to perform additional surgery to remove the filter. Due to the filter’s positioning, this proved to be much more complicated than expected. In fact, the plaintiff underwent four retrieval surgeries to have the filter completely removed from her vein, with three of the surgeries being classified as “complex removals.”
The surgeries, which were performed over a five-month period between October 2017-February 2018, began on October 17 at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, with a second surgery performed there as well on October 30, 2017. Due to the complications from the filter’s tilting and perforation of the vein, a third operation was then performed at the Gates Vascular Institute on November 22, 2017. Finally, a fourth operation was done on February 28, 2018 at New York Presbyterian-Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York City, where the final components of the filter were removed.
In the plaintiff’s lawsuit, which is filed against the filter’s manufacturer, Argon Medical Devices Inc. and Rex Medical, L.P., it alleges both of the defendants named in the lawsuit were negligent for selling a defective medical device, and also knew of the risks associated with the vein filter, yet chose not to warn patients.
While the defendants in the lawsuit have denied any wrongdoing, there has nevertheless been a tremendous number of similar lawsuits filed by other patients who have experienced many of the same difficulties once these filters were implanted in their veins. As of now, there are more than 8,000 additional lawsuits pertaining to IVC filter issues filed against Argon Medical Devices Inc., Rex Medical, L.P., and other manufacturers including Cook Medical, B. Braun, C.R. Bard, and several other manufacturers.
Due to the complexity and sheer volume of these lawsuits, they have been filed in various state and federal courts across the United States. In most of the cases, plaintiffs are being represented by personal injury attorneys who specialize in IVC filter cases. Since these cases are quite complex and require the analysis of large volumes of medical data and records, most lawsuits take many months at a minimum to get resolved, with most taking well over one year.
As more patients come forward with similar stories about complications due to IVC filter implants, it is expected state and federal courts will have many additional lawsuits filed in the coming months and years. In fact, most legal experts on this topic expect the number of lawsuits to surpass 10,000 or even more, making it one of the largest medical negligence lawsuits ever filed. The Law Offices of Sadaka Associates is well-versed in this litigation. If you or a loved one has been injured by a vein filter, contact one of our knowledgeable attorneys for a free consultation.
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