Cook Celect IVC Filter Lawsuit Filed Over Device Migration, Perforation Injuries

According to allegations raised in a recently filed product liability lawsuit, Cook Celect IVC filters are associated with an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death due to problems where they tilt out of position, perforate the vena cava, fracture or migrate through the body.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Neela Gohel in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on May 4, indicating that a dangerous and defective design caused her to suffer migration and perforation injuries that have left her with permanent injuries and the need for ongoing medical care and monitoring.

Gohel indicates that a defective Cook Celect IVC filter was implanted in her body in June 2014, which is a small devce designed to prevent blood clots from traveling to the lungs and causing a pulmonary embolism. However, in April 2017 she underwent a computed tomography (CT) scanm which found that the filter’s struts had migrated out of position, and several struts were found extending outside of her inferior vena cava and one had perforated into her duodenum.

The Cook filter was designed to be “retrievable”, where the device may be removed after the risk of blood clot has passed. However, individuals throughout the U.S. have reported suffering severe and often life-threatening injury after the retrievable filters moved out of position, punctured the vein or broke apart, often sending small pieces to travel to the heart or lungs.

Gohel’s complaint indicates, in addition to the injuries she has already suffered, she faces a future risk of filter fractures, additional migrations, perforations and tilting, and could result in death.

“Cook IVC Filters are associated with, and cause, an increased risk for serious injury and death as a result of adverse events including: tilting, perforation, fracture, breakage and migration,” the lawsuit states. “At all times relevant to this action, Cook intentionally, recklessly, and/or negligently failed to act as to the known failures and injuries associated with its devices and/or failed to warn about and concealed , suppressed, omitted, and/or misrepresented the risks, dangers, defects and disadvantages of its IVC filters.”

Cook Medical currently faces more than 6,000 product liability lawsuits that allege Cook Celect, Cook Gunther Tip, or other inferior vena cava (IVC) filters were defectively designed and are prone to migrate out of position, puncture internal organs, fracture or cause other serious health complications.

Given similar questions of fact and law presented in the claims, the lawsuits have been centralized before U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young in the Southern District of Indiana, as part of a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL).

In addition to Cook IVC filter lawsuits, there are also a large number of Bard Recovery filter lawsuitsand Bard G2 filter lawsuits pending in a separate MDL, which is centralized before U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell in Arizona.