Lawsuit Claims SmartPort Migrated Out of Position Due to Defective Design

AngioDynamics received numerous reports of problems where the port catheter migrated out of position well before the plaintiff was implanted with a SmartPort, lawsuit indicates.

As lawyers continue to work to prepare a group of AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits for early bellwether trials in the federal court system, individuals nationwide continue to file complaints indicating that the implants are defectively designed, leading to device migration, infections and other serious complications.

AngioDynamics port catheters are commonly used in patients who require frequent intravenous infusions of fluids and medications, such as during chemotherapy. The implants consist of a subdermal port connected to a catheter and are meant to be left in for long periods of time.

However, lawsuits involving the company’s SmartPort, Vortex Port, Xcela Port and other port catheter products allege that they are defectively designed and prone to serious complications. As a result, patients indicate they have experienced painful and devastating injuries caused by catheter fractures, infections, device migration and thrombosis.

According to a complaint (PDF) filed by Vicky Sturgill on October 1, AngioDynamics Inc. and Navilyst Medical Inc. sold an unreasonably dangerous and defective SmartPort device, which migrated out of position and failed, leading to the need for its surgical removal.

The lawsuit indicates that Sturgill, of Kentucky, was implanted with a SmartPort in January 2017, for chemotherapy treatment of her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

By July of that year, the device was no longer working, causing problems when doctors attempted to use the port catheter to draw blood. They discovered that the device was “malpositioned” and blocked by a fibrin sheath deposition. After discovering the SmartPort had migrated, the implant was removed days later.

The complaint notes that the surgery left Sturgill with permanent injuries and substantial physical deformity, which could have been avoided if her doctors had been adequately warned and given appropriate instructions on how to avoid such outcomes. Sturgill argues that although the manufacturers had been aware of such problems for years, they failed to report them, add new label warnings, or alter the port catheter’s advertising or design.

“Soon after the SmartPort was introduced to market, which was years before Plaintiff was implanted with his device, Defendants began receiving large numbers of adverse event reports (‘AERs’) from health care providers reporting that the SmartPort was fracturing post-implantation and that fractured pieces were migrating throughout the human body, including to the heart and lungs.”

– Sturgill v. AngioDynamics et al.

She presents claims of failure to warn, design defect, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment, and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

AngioDynamics Port Catheter Lawsuit Update

Sturgill’s complaint will be consolidated with about 130 similar AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits currently pending in the Southern District of California, where U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta is coordinating discovery and pretrial proceedings as part of a federal MDL, or multidistrict litigation.

Judge Ohta is also overseeing preparations for a series of early test trials. These “bellwether” cases are intended to gauge how juries may respond to key evidence and expert testimony that will be central to claims throughout the MDL and could help drive port catheter settlement negotiations or shape the course of future trials.

On the same day Sturgill’s lawsuit was filed, the parties turned in a proposed plan for selecting 18 potential bellwether trials, focusing on three types of injuries, including infections, device fractures and thrombosis. Plaintiffs and defendants propose trimming the number down to eight bellwether trial lawsuits by December 11, 2026.

While the results of those bellwether trials will not be binding on other plaintiffs pursuing claims, they could help gauge how juries will respond to similar evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. In addition, the average AngioDynamics port lawsuit payouts awarded by juries may help lawyers negotiate settlements in other claims.

Following the MDL proceedings, if the parties do not reach a resolution for the litigation, Judge Ohta may then remand each case back to the U.S. District Court where it originated for a future trial date.