Cook IVC Filter Lawsuit Claims Celect Device Tilted, Piercing Vena Cava

Lawsuit claims multiple struts from a Cook Celect IVC filter perforated the largest vein in the plaintiff’s body.

A California woman has filed a lawsuit alleging a Cook Celect Platinum Vena Cava Filter became lodged in her vena cava after tilting out of position, leaving her with severe pain and exposing her to potentially serious complications.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Kimberly Estrada in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County on September 4, naming Cook Incorporated and several subsidiaries as defendants.

Estrada alleges doctors were unable to safely retrieve the filter for more than a year after the device became embedded in the wall of her vena cava.

IVC Filter Risks

The Cook Celect is one of several brands of IVC filters designed to prevent blood clots from traveling to the heart or lungs. The small, spider-like devices are implanted in the inferior vena cava, often among individuals at risk of pulmonary embolism who cannot take anticoagulants or do not respond adequately to the medications.

However, certain IVC filter designs have been linked to reports of tilting, migration, perforation and fracture after implantation. These complications may cause filter struts to penetrate the vena cava or nearby organs, while fractured components can travel through the bloodstream and become lodged elsewhere in the body.

Cook’s Celect and Gunther Tulip filters, as well as several designs sold by C.R. Bard, have been the subject of product liability claims alleging the manufacturers failed to adequately account for these risks.

As a result, tens of thousands of individuals have pursued Cook IVC filter lawsuits and Bard IVC filter lawsuits in courts nationwide, raising allegations involving defective designs, inadequate testing and insufficient warnings provided to patients and the medical community.

Cook IVC Filter Allegations

According to the complaint, Estrada was implanted with a Cook Celect Platinum Vena Cava Filter in July 2024. At the time, she was told that the IVC filter could be easily removed in a couple months.

However, when that time came in early September 2024, doctors discovered that they could not remove the filter as promised because it had significantly tilted out of position. This caused the device to perforate the vein and become embedded.

The Cook Celect IVC filter was not successfully removed until January 2026. During the removal, doctors noted that by then several struts had perforated Estrada’s vena cava.

“Defendants knew and/or should have known that the Celect Filter had an unreasonably and unexpectedly high risk of fracture, migration, excessive tilting and tendency to tear the vena cava once implanted in the human body. Defendants knew and/or should have known that such failures exposed patients to and in fact had caused serious injuries, including: death; hemorrhage; cardiac/pericardial tamponade; cardiac arrhythmia and other symptoms similar to myocardial infarction; severe and persistent pain; perforations of tissue, vessels and organs; and inability to remove the device.”

– Kimberly Estrada v Cook Incorporated et al.

The lawsuit presents claims of negligence, inadequate warning, manufacturing defect, breach of express warranty and medical negligence.

IVC Filter Lawsuits

Estrada’s complaint will be consolidated with similar IVC filter lawsuits in the District of Southern Indiana before U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL), where they have been undergoing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Judge Young has had counsel preparing a group of representative cases to serve as early bellwether trials, which will help those involved with the case see how juries may evaluate evidence and testimony that would be key in every individual IVC filter claim.

In the interim, the judge has encouraged settlement discussions between the plaintiffs and Cook Medical, which have reportedly expanded throughout the year as the parties explore potential solutions that could prevent the need for thousands of individual trials.

If the parties are unable to reach an agreement after the bellwether trials have been completed, Judge Young may begin remanding cases back to their original districts where they will be prepared for individual trials.

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