SmartPort Pulmonary Embolism Lawsuit Filed Against AngioDynamics

An Oregon woman did not discover the connection between her pulmonary embolism and the AngioDynamics SmartPort device until three years after the injury.

AngioDynamics faces a product liability lawsuit brought by a woman who suffered a pulmonary embolism from an SmartPort, indicating that a defect in the port-a-cath directly resulted in the blood clot in her lungs, which nearly killed her.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Brandi Nicole Davison in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on July 1, naming AngioDynamics, Inc. and Navilyst Medical, Inc. as the defendants.

The AngioDynamics SmartPort belongs to a line of port catheters, also known as port-a-caths, which are designed to provide doctors a way of giving patients repeated drug and fluid injections through a reusable port that can be implanted in individuals undergoing chemotherapy or similar regular drug treatments.

However, the SmartPort and other AngioDynamics port-a-caths, such as the Vortex Port and Xcela Port, have come under increasing scrutiny as a growing number of patients file AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits, each raising similar allegations that design defects cause the barium sulfate to break down, resulting in microfractures, device migration, infections, and the need for surgical removal.

C.R. Bard faces a similar series of Bard PowerPort lawsuits over its own port catheter design, which plaintiffs say has the same problems as the SmartPort.

Davison, of Oregon, was first implanted with her SmartPort CT port catheter in March 2020. However, in October of that year she reported to the hospital, after experiencing chest and upper abdominal pain.

The lawsuit indicates that her doctors put her through a CT scan, revealing she was suffering from pulmonary emboli, which is a life-threatening blood clot that travels to the lungs, blocking blood flow.

Doctors determined that Davison would have to be placed on anticoagulants before having the device surgically removed. However, she remained unaware that the pulmonary embolism was caused by a SmartPort design defect until she saw information about the problems on social media in July 2023, according to the complaint.

“It was at that point when Plaintiff first learned that her injuries described in this Complaint may have been caused by the Defendants’ SmartPort CT’s defects and/or by the Defendants’ tortious conduct.”

–Brandi Nicole Davison v. AngioDynamics, Inc. and Navilyst Medical, Inc.

Davison presents claims of negligence, design defect, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment and violations of Oregon’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act, seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.

AngioDynamics Port-a-Cath Lawsuits

Davison’s lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of California, where it will be consolidated with similar claims currently pending in an AngioDynamics port-a-cath multidistrict litigation (MDL), which is being overseen by U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

As part of the coordinated management of the growing litigation, Judge Ohta is expected to establish a bellwether trial process, during which a handful of representative cases will be selected for early trial dates. These trials will allow the parties and court to evaluate how juries may respond to evidence and expert testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

While the results of those bellwether trials would not be binding, they could help the parties reach an AngioDynamics port infection lawsuit settlement agreement. If the parties do not reach an agreement, and no other resolution is found to the litigation, Judge Ohta may then remand each case back to the U.S. District Court where it originated for a future trial date.