Judge Clears Bard PowerPort Lawsuit for Trial, Rejecting Motion for Summary Judgment

Early trials in the Bard PowerPort litigation have resulted in mixed results, with one ending in a defense verdict, and another rendering a $40 million award.

A federal judge has rejected a last-ditch effort by C.R. Bard to dismiss the Bard PowerPort lawsuit scheduled to serve as the next bellwether trial case, just two weeks before it is set to begin.

The lawsuit was filed by May Lattanzio of Florida, who says she suffered a serious infection due to the defective design of Bard’s PowerPort line of port catheters. Her complaint is just one of more than 3,700 similar product liability lawsuits brought against the manufacturer nationwide by individuals who say the medical implants are prone to infections, catheter fractures and migration, causing severe health complications and frequently requiring the devices to be surgically removed.

Port Catheter Risks

Port catheters are medical devices implanted just below the skin that provide continued access to the bloodstream without repeated needle sticks. They consist of the subdermal access port and a catheter that extends into a large vein for the delivery of medications and other fluids. The implants are often provided to patients receiving chemotherapy or other long-term treatments.

However, individuals like Lattanzio allege the catheter can fracture due to excessive amounts of a substance known as barium sulfate used in its construction. This allegedly increases the risk of cracking, fractures, infections and debris and device migration.

As the number of similar complaints grew, all federal Bard PowerPort lawsuits were centralized before U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona into a multidistrict litigation (MDL). Judge Campbell is overseeing the litigation through its pretrial proceedings and a series of bellwether trials, used as early test cases to see how juries interpret evidence and testimony that would be repeated throughout the litigation.

Bard PowerPort Bellwether Trials

Two Bard PowerPort bellwether trials have already been held. However, they resulted in very different outcomes, which have not helped counsel determine the comparative strengths and weaknesses of their arguments.

The first federal Bard PowerPort lawsuit to go to trial resulted in a defense verdict earlier this year, with the plaintiff having since filed a motion for mistrial, claiming the jury was improperly instructed. The second bellwether trial ended in a $40 million verdict in favor of a New Mexico woman who said her PowerPort fractured inside of her, sending pieces into her heart and causing a pulmonary embolism.

The third trial is scheduled to begin on October 13. However, the defendants, including C.R. Bard and its parent organization, Becton Dickinson and Company, filed a motion to dismiss the case. The defendants argued that Lattanzio’s claims were barred by Florida’s statute of limitations law, that the design defect claims should be thrown out because port catheters are “unavoidably unsafe,” and that the warning labels were sufficient as a matter of law.

In a court order (PDF) issued on September 25, Judge Campbell rejected Bard’s arguments, clearing the way for the October 13 trial to proceed.

“Defendants contend that a warning is adequate as a matter of law where it warns of the possibility of the adverse event the plaintiff experienced. But the PowerPort’s IFU (instructions for use) does not warn that the device may cause a catheter-related bloodstream infection, the adverse event Plaintiff claims she experienced. The Court cannot find the PowerPort’s warnings adequate as a matter of law.”

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

The judge also denied the defendants’ request to bar punitive damages, stating that they will have to argue the merits of punitive damages before the jury but that their arguments were “not sufficient to warrant summary judgment.”

According to a case management order (PDF) Judge Campbell issued on September 24, a fourth Bard PowerPort bellwether trial is already scheduled to begin on December 1, involving claims by Judy Hicks, of Missouri. A final pretrial conference for that trial is scheduled to begin on October 26, 2026.

Neither the outcome of Lattanzio nor Hicks’ bellwether trials will have any bearing on the other Bard PowerPort lawsuits. However, the Court hopes they could lead to settlement negotiations that resolve most or all of the litigation without the need for thousands of separate trials.

Port Catheter Lawsuits

In addition to Bard PowerPort trials brought in federal courts nationwide, hundreds of AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits have also been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta in the Southern District of California. Judge Ohta is currently leading those cases through coordinated discovery and addressing common pretrial issues involving allegations that the company marketed defective implantable port systems.

Those cases also allege design and manufacturing problems with AngioDynamics devices could make the implanted catheters prone to fractures, blood clots, infections and other potentially serious injuries.

Judge Ohta is ultimately expected to direct attorneys to select a small group of representative AngioDynamics claims for early bellwether trials. While the outcomes will not be binding on other cases, they may indicate how juries respond to common evidence and allegations, potentially influencing future AngioDynamics port catheter settlement discussions.

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