Bard PowerPort Fracture Lawsuit Set For Second Bellwether Trial in Aug. 2026

Judge has decided not to replace one of the original bellwether cases after the plaintiff died, finding that the remaining early trials will provide a sufficient test of Bard PowerPort lawsuits being pursued by thousands nationwide.

A second Bard PowerPort lawsuit will go before a federal jury in August 2026, as the court continues moving through a series of early test trials that may help determine whether thousands of claims are resolved through settlements, or sent back to federal district courts nationwide for individual trials.

U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell has decided to hold only five Bard PowerPort bellwether trials, after a plaintiff whose case was scheduled for trial in July died and her family elected not to continue pursuing the claim.

C.R. Bard and its parent company, Becton Dickinson, currently face more than 3,000 Bard PowerPort lawsuits brought throughout the federal court system, each raising similar allegations that the implantable port catheters were defectively designed with barium sulfate, which may cause the polyurethane catheter material to degrade over time and make the devices more prone to failure.

The port catheters named in the lawsuits are small medical devices implanted under the skin for patients who need repeated medication or fluid infusions, such as chemotherapy. The devices include an injection port connected to a catheter, allowing doctors to access the bloodstream without using a new needle for every treatment.

However, according to the lawsuits, Bard marketed the PowerPort as safe and effective, while failing to correct known design and material problems or adequately warn doctors and patients about the risk that the catheter may fracture or migrate through the body. Plaintiffs claim those failures have led to infections, blood clots, emboli, revision surgeries and other potentially life-threatening injuries.

Bard PowerPort Bellwether Trials

All federal Bard PowerPort lawsuits are currently consolidated as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the District of Arizona before U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell, who has been working with the parties for months to prepare a series of bellwether trials. These early test cases will give the parties an opportunity to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

Judge Campbell originally selected six Bard PowerPort cases for trial, including claims brought by Wanda Miller. However, Miller died in February due to cancer, and according to a case management order (PDF) issued on May 19, her family has decided not to continue pursuing the case.

Plaintiffs asked Judge Campbell to replace Miller’s case with an alternate claim brought by Peter James, arguing it would provide a useful comparison point for valuing catheter fracture claims. James alleges his Bard port catheter fractured after it was implanted through the internal jugular vein, while the only remaining fracture bellwether claim, brought by Kimberly Divelbliss, involves a subclavian placement.

Plaintiffs said that distinction mattered because Bard may argue the Divelbliss’s fracture resulted from improper implantation or “pinch-off,” where the catheter is compressed between the clavicle and first rib.

However, Bard opposed adding the James case, arguing that the Divelbliss trial already involves a Bard silicone Groshong catheter fracture, and that an Arizona state court trial scheduled for August 2026 will involve an internal jugular fracture claim. The company also said preparing James’s case for trial would require substantial additional discovery and expert work, after Bard had already spent more than $1 million preparing the Miller case.

On that same day, Judge Campbell issued a separate case management order (PDF) reducing the number of planned Bard PowerPort bellwether trials from six to five, finding that the remaining cases will still provide a meaningful test of the claims and defenses in the litigation.

The judge noted that fracture claims currently make up only about 12% of the Bard PowerPort MDL inventory. Allowing two fracture cases to proceed among six bellwether trials would mean that one-third of the early test cases focused on an injury category that represents a much smaller share of the overall litigation.

“The five scheduled bellwether trials will provide a meaningful and representative test of the claims and defenses in this MDL. As in the previous Bard MDL, cases that are not resolved by settlement after these bellwethers, and within a schedule to be set by the Court, will be transferred or remanded to their home districts for resolution.”

– U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell, District of Arizona

The second bellwether trial will now begin on August 18, involving port catheter fracture allegations brought by Kimberly Divelbliss.

The first bellwether trial ended in a defense verdict several weeks ago, after a jury found Bard was not liable for failing to warn or instruct about potential PowerPort risks and rejected the consumer fraud claim. However, jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether the PowerPort was defectively designed or whether the manufacturers engaged in unlawful trade practices.

In addition to Bard PowerPort port catheter lawsuits, more than 300 similar AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits claim that company’s series of port catheters, including the Vortex Port, SmartPort and Xcela Port, suffer from a similar problem as the Bard PowerPort. These lawsuits are consolidated in a separate MDL in the Southern District of California before U.S. Judge Jinsook Ohta, who is expected to begin a similar bellwether process in hopes of resolving those claims as well.

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