Jury Returns Defense Verdict in First Bard PowerPort Injury Lawsuit

Next Bard PowerPort injury lawsuit bellwether trial is scheduled to begin in July, involving a case where the original plaintiff died of cancer earlier this year.

An Arizona jury found that C.R. Bard and Becton Dickinson were not liable for failure to warn claims involving Bard PowerPort catheter risks, but deadlocked on whether the implantable port catheter was defectively designed.

The lawsuit, brought by Robert Cook, claimed that the Bard PowerPort port catheter was defectively designed, and responsible for him suffering a serious infection and injuries. His case was chosen to be the first of a series of cases representative of more than 3,000 similar Bard PowerPort lawsuits filed by individuals nationwide.

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 were 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.

These early test trials are designed to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony that would likely be repeated throughout the litigation if all of the claims had to go to trial. Such bellwether trials are designed to help prevent overloading the court by potentially laying the foundation for settlement negotiations based on their outcomes.

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.

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