Jury Returns Defense Verdict in First Bard PowerPort Injury Lawsuit

The case is the first in a series of scheduled Bard PowerPort lawsuits set for bellwether trials, with the next case going before a jury in July 2026.

An Arizona jury has found that C.R. Bard and Becton Dickinson are not liable for failing to warn about potential Bard PowerPort injury risks, but deadlocked on whether the implantable port catheter was defectively designed.

The Bard PowerPort injury lawsuit was the first in a series of scheduled bellwether trials set to go before federal juries in the coming months, involving a claim brought by Robert Cook, who argued that the port catheter was responsible for causing him to suffer a serious infection.

Cook’s case is one of more than 3,000 similar Bard PowerPort lawsuits pending in the federal court system, and was being closely watched to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

Bard PowerPort Defect Allegations

The PowerPort is a port catheter implant designed to help doctors inject medications and other fluids into a patient’s body without the need for a new needlestick every time. It consists of a small injection port implanted beneath the skin and a polyurethane catheter that delivers the fluids into the patient’s veins. It is often used for chemotherapy and other treatments where numerous repeat injections are anticipated.

However, many individuals have reported in recent years that Bard PowerPort devices are defectively designed after suffering infections, catheter fractures and failures where the implant migrated out of position. 

Plaintiffs allege the manufacturers fraudulently marketed the implants as safe and effective, despite knowing about design problems. They also claim the companies failed to correct the design or warn the medical community about the risk of serious complications, including pulmonary embolism, blood clots, infections and the need for revision surgery to remove failed implants.

Due to facts and law common throughout the litigation, all federal Bard PowerPort lawsuits have been consolidated for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings 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 six bellwether trials to go before juries.

While the outcomes in these early test trials are not binding on other plaintiffs, they are designed to help facilitate potential Bard PowerPort settlement negotiations between the parties and avoid the need for each individual case to go before separate juries nationwide in the coming years.

Bard PowerPort Verdict

The trial over Cook’s claims began on April 21 and concluded Friday. The 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.

The split outcome means that future bellwether trials, which may help clarify juries’ interpretations of the evidence and arguments, could have become even more important.

Jurors reportedly indicated that had they been specifically asked if the Bard PowerPort could have been designed to be safer, they would have said yes. Additionally, company employees testified that they had recommended the port’s design be updated, and that Bard has known for years that its port catheters have a 14% infection rate.

Additional trials are scheduled to begin on July 7, August 18, October 13, December 1, and February 2, 2027. The second trial will involve injuries suffered by Wanda Miller, who died in early February of cancer. To date, Miller’s family has not yet decided whether to move forward with the lawsuit as her heirs. This has raised questions as to whether the case should move forward as scheduled, be rescheduled, swapped with another claim or removed as a bellwether trial entirely.

If the bellwether trials conclude without a settlement or other resolution, Judge Campbell is expected to begin remanding the cases back to their originating federal districts for individual trial dates.

Additionally, 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.

Sign up for more legal news that could affect you or your family.