Doctors Struggle With Deciding When Is The Optimal Time To Remove A Patient's IVC Filter

The risks and dangers of IVC filter removal have been kept from patients but are real and life-threatening

Friday, January 14, 2022 - The debate rages on about whether or not it is in the best interest of the patient to retrieve their implanted IVC filter, or if the patient may be better off if the filter is left in. An IVC filter is used to trap blood clots in patients that have just had surgery or have had a traumatic injury, and do not respond to conventional blood thinners. An IVC filter can be a life-saving medical device when it performs as advertised which is most of the time. Sometimes, however, the IVC filter can tilt within the inferior vena cava and break into pieces that can travel directly to and puncture the heart muscle or become lodged at other times in the lungs making breathing excruciatingly painful. The IVC filter is a delicate, spider-like device that is inserted via a catheter in the largest vein in the body near the upper thigh and abdomen called the inferior vena cava (IVC). All blood that goes to the lower half of the body passes through this route. If an IVC filter becomes overworked it may trap blood clots excessively and must be removed immediately. DrugWatch tells readers that the device is only a temporary solution to a life-threatening problem. " In order to reduce the risk of potential complications, experts recommend removing the filter as soon as the device is no longer needed and preferably within 2-3 months after implantation." Doctors are trained in the implantation of the device but some are clueless how to remove it other than to reverse the procedure. Some radiologists think that patients are better off living under the risk that the IVC filter many someday malfunction rather than risk the complications of removal. More surgeons may be willing to attemp removing the IVC filter after a short period of time when the patitent's risk of blood clotting has passed because laser removal devices have now been approved by the FDA. Surgeons today have all of the tools necessary to excise IVC tissue that the device has become attached to without damaging the IVC.

Today's laser IVC filter removal technology is a relief to thousands of patients that have been waiting to have their blood clot filter safely removed. The news or the laser removal breakthrough does little to comfort IVC patients whose surgeons tried to force the filter out of the IVC and fractured it into pieces that were free to migrate to the heart and lungs. Most doctors that break an IVC filter, leaving some of it in the body, will not risk the invasive open-heart surgery needed to retrieve the pieces, leaving the patient having to live with the fear of instant death should a fragment shift. Patients are consulting with Bard IVC lawyers to see if the qualify to file a claim and hold the device manufacture responsible for their injuries. Some IVC patients have filed Bard IVC filter lawsuits against the medical device's maker for failing to warn them of the removal and breakage risks. DrugWatch.com estimates that the IVC filter breakage rate is unacceptably high. The report, "IVC filters have a fracture rate of 1 to 2 percent. Breakages are more common with retrievable filters than permanent ones. In one study, researchers looked at 80 patients who had two particular brands of filters placed in them between 2004 and 2009, the Bard Recovery and the Bard G2 filters."

More Recent IVC Filter Lawsuit News:

• Scientific Authors Agree That IVC Filters May Have Been Overused In Anticipation of Blood Clots Occurring | 2/26/2022
• IVC Filter Use Has Skyrocketed And So Have Patient Complaints | 2/22/2022
• IVC Filter Removal Continues To Generate Controversy In Medical Circles | 2/12/2022
• Pulmonary Embolism Kills Over 100,000 People Each Year Hospitalized With Traumatic Injury | 2/7/2022
• Bard Faces Thousands Of IVC Filter Lawsuits Over The Product's Unique Inherent Design Defects | 2/2/2022
• Stanford's Dr. Kuo Has Helped Pioneer Advanced IVC Filter Laser Retrieval | 1/28/2022
• Doctors May Use IVC Filters More Often Now That Laser Removal Is An Option | 1/10/2022
• IVC Filter Lasers Highlights Focus Attention On Removal Complications | 1/4/2022
• IVC Filter Retrieval Complications Have Been Known For Years | 12/30/2021
• Lasers May Now Enable Doctors To Safely Retrieve Embedded IVC Filters | 12/22/2021
• IVC Filters May Do Nothing To Prevent Death Or Pulmonary Embolism For Trauma Patients | 12/16/2021
• IVC Filters Can Help Save The Lives Of Young People That Experience Multiple Sudden Blood Clots | 12/1/2021
• The FDA Recommends That An IVC Filter Stay In Place No Longer Than Two Months | 11/26/2021
• Bard Sales Reps, Surgeons, And Even The FDA All Looked The Other Way And Failed To Warn IVC Filter Patients | 11/18/2021
• Ozone Cleaning Products Are Not FDA Approved And May Be Responsible For CPAP Foam Insulation Breakdown | 11/12/2021
• Patients Should Know Of All Of The Risks Of Having An IVC Filter Implanted To Trap Blood Clots | 11/12/2021
• Blood Clot Patients Chest Pain Patients Are Talking To IVC Filter Lawyers About Holding Bard Accountable | 11/5/2021
• The IVC Filter Is Substantially Similar To The Faulty And Defective Essure Birth Control Device | 11/1/2021
• The Food And Drug Administration Has Been Warning Surgeons About The IVC Filters Design Flaws For More Than A decade | 10/28/2021
• IVC Filter Heart Pain Could Be From The Device Having Fractured Into Pieces | 10/25/2021
• Bellwether Bard IVC Filter Lawsuit Highlights The Design Flaws | 10/20/2021
• IVC Filters Could Be Unnecessary If A Person Leads A Healthy Lifestyle | 10/15/2021
• The EPA's Farm Flagger Ban Came Decades Too Late for Thousands of Farm Workers Who Now Have Parkinson's disease | 10/12/2021
• Bard IVC Filters May Tilt, Migrate and Perforate The Artery Where They Were Implanted | 10/11/2021
• A Report Published In 2006 Documented IVC Filter Catastrophies | 10/5/2021
• Medical Safety Groups Call For The End of the FDA Fast-Track Medical Device Approval Process | 9/30/2021
• IVC Filters May Not Be Needed And Offer No Reduction In Mortality | 9/27/2021
• IVC Filters Are Implanted As A Last Resort And Left In Place Only If Blood Clotting Continues And There Is No Alternative | 9/24/2021
• IVC Filters Are A Bad Idea Fraught With Life-Threating Complications | 9/20/2021
• Doctors May Consider Vitamin K Anti-Coagulant Therapy Before Recommending IVC Filters | 9/15/2021
• Surgeons May Not Be Able To Retreive the Bard IVC Filter After Two or Three Months | 9/11/2021
• A High Failure Rate For IVC Filter Removal Can Be Expected And Surgeons Should Prepare For The Worse | 9/7/2021
• Thousands Of IVC Filters May Eventually Experience Catastrophic Failure | 9/2/2021
• Most Bard IVC Filters are Doomed To Failure and Surgeons Would Never Attempt To Retrieve It | 8/31/2021
• A California Jury Finds The Bard IVC Filter Is Negligently Designed | 8/27/2021
• Scar Tissue Build Up After 60 Days May Prevent Safe Bard IVC Filter Removal | 8/23/2021
• IVC Filter Removal Requires Using Force When Trapped In Place By Scar Tissue | 8/19/2021
• Bard IVC Filters Have Caused Severe Damage More Than 10% Of The Time | 8/14/2021
• A Fourth Jury Finds Bard IVC Filters Defective | 8/10/2021
• Patients With IVC Filters Should Contact Their Physicians Immediately | 12/21/2018
• Lawsuits Filed Across Wide Variety of IVC Filter Manufacturers | 12/18/2018
• IVC Filter Patients May Be Eligible to File A Claim Against CR Bard | 12/13/2018
• IVC Filter Manufacturers Profit When Patients Misinformed | 12/10/2018
• IVC Filter Litigation is Growing Every Day | 12/7/2018
• Doctors May Be Neglecting IVC Filter Device Patients | 12/4/2018
• CR Bard Forced To Compensate Injured IVC Filter Patients | 11/27/2018
• Judge Confirms IVC Filter Malfunction and Punitive Damages Award | 8/31/2018
• Bellwether Trials Underway For Bard IVC Filters | 8/29/2018
• The Bard IVC Filter May Not Have Been Adequately Tested | 8/27/2018

No-Cost, No-Obligation Bard IVC Filter Lawsuit Case Review for Persons or Families of Persons Who Suffered from Organ Damage, Severe Bleeding, Stroke, or Death

OnderLaw, LLC is a St. Louis personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. The Onder Law Firm has represented clients throughout the United States in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation such as Pradaxa, Lexapro and Yasmin/Yaz, where the firm's attorneys held significant leadership roles in the litigation, as well as Actos, DePuy, Risperdal and others, and other law firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation.