Bard PowerPort Infection Lawsuit Chosen for First Bellwether Trial in Feb. 2026

Trial will be closely watched by lawyers involved in more than 1,700 Bard PowerPort lawsuits, which allege design defects with the system resulted in port catheter infections, fractures and other injuries.

A Minnesota man’s Bard PowerPort infection lawsuit will be the first in a series of “bellwether” trials, which are designed to see how juries will respond to evidence, arguments and testimony over allegations that the port catheter implants were defectively designed.

The Bard PowerPort, also known as a totally implantable vascular access device (TIVAD), is designed to give doctors a port where they can deliver drugs and other medications directly into a patient’s bloodstream, usually in anticipation of repeated injections, such as with chemotherapy. It includes an injection port site where the needle is inserted, and a polyurethane catheter tube that delivers the fluids to the patient’s body.

However, Becton Dickinson and its C.R. Bard subsidiary currently face more than 1,700 Bard PowerPort lawsuits filed in the federal court system, each raising similar allegations that the products are defective and unreasonably dangerous, since they are prone to causing port catheter infections, implant fractures, migration injuries and other complications.

Plaintiffs allege that the composition of the catheter material causes it to degrade and fracture inside the body, often resulting in the need for revision surgery to remove the failed device.

Since common questions of fact and law have been raised in complaints filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide, the federal courts established a Bard PowerPort lawsuit MDL (multidistrict litigation), centralizing all of the claims in the District of Arizona under U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Under Judge Campbell’s direction, the parties are now preparing a small group of claims, deemed to be representative of the litigation as a whole, for early trials, as part of a bellwether trial process.

In December 2023, the parties selected a group of 24 Bard PowerPort lawsuits, which have been undergoing limited discovery. That list was later narrowed down to 15 bellwether prospects, which have gone through more specific preparations over the last several months.

In May 2025, Judge Campbell announced the selection of six Bard PowerPort bellwether cases that were eligible for the first jury trials, along with one additional alternative. The selected cases included Bard PowerPort lawsuits brought by Wanda Miller, Robert Cook, Judy Hicks, Kimberly Divelbliss, May Lattanzio, Lloyd Sorensen, with a lawsuit by Peter James chosen as an alternate.

First Trial To Be Bard PowerPort Infection Lawsuit

Lawyers involved in the litigation met with Judge Campbell for a Case Management Conference on July 15, resulting in a case management order (PDF) that was issued that same day, which named the selection of Cook’s complaint as the first of six bellwether trials.

Cook’s Bard PowerPort infection lawsuit (PDF) was originally filed in September 2023, involving a port catheter device implanted as part of chemotherapy treatments he was receiving. The complaint indicates that he received the implant in late August 2022, but just a little more than a week later, had to undergo revision surgery after doctors determined the implant had become infected.

“The Defendants concealed—and continue to conceal—their knowledge of the PowerPort’s unreasonably dangerous risks from Plaintiff and his physicians. Numerous reports of PowerPort catheter-related infections in the absence of medical provider error were recorded and reported to Defendants prior to the implantation of the PowerPort in Plaintiff.”

–Robert Cook v. Becton, Dickinson and Company et al

The complaints by Cook and other plaintiffs allege that the manufacturers intentionally hid or downplayed those risks, sacrificing patient safety for profits.

Bellwether Trials Likely to Begin in February

Judge Campbell’s order announced that Cook’s trial will be followed by trials for Wanda Miller, May Lattanzio, Kimberly Divelbliss, Judy Hicks, and finally Lloyd Sorensen. He expects the Cook trial to begin sometime in mid- to late-February 2026, and that there will be at least several weeks between each trial.

The order calls on the parties to propose a schedule for the trials in a joint memorandum by August 13, and schedules the next status conference for August 15.

Although the outcomes of these early bellwether trials will not have any binding impact on other claims pending in the MDL or state courts, they will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation and the average jury awards are expected to have a major impact on future Bard PowerPort lawsuit settlement negotiations.

However, if the bellwether trials do not result in a Bard PowerPort settlement agreement, all of those lawsuits could be remanded back to their originating court districts for hundreds of individual trial dates.