IVC Filter Removal Continues To Generate Controversy In Medical Circles

Too many surgeons considered the IVC filter a permanent solution causing catastrophic complications

Saturday, February 12, 2022 - Doctors have been hesitant to try and remove inferior vena cave (IVC) filters within the 60-day limit imposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because they are untrained to remove them. Removing an IVC filter is seldom as straightforward as using minimally invasive laparoscopy to go in and reverse the insertion procedure. More often than not, the IVC filter becomes ensnared in scar tissue that makes non-surgical removal impossible. Doctors can only leave the filter in place, close up, and hope that the filter does not become the source of blockage as it continues to trap clots. Another risk of leaving an IVC filter in place too long is that there is no guarantee that once a blood clot is snared it will continue to be trapped indefinitely. In fact, the longer the device is left in place and the more clots it has trapped, the greater the chance some clots will break free and cause the pulmonary embolism the device was intended to prevent. Not only that, doctors that fail when attempting to remove IVC filters may break the filter and cause shards of metal to roam free in the bloodstream and flow into the lungs, becoming embedded. Pulmonary embolism can occur at any moment when an IVC filter has been left in too long and cause instant death. Laser IVC removal devices were approved by the FDA last year to attempt to reduce the risks inherent in IVC filter removal. Patients and surgeons should be concerned about the brand of IVC filter they select. IVC filters manufactured by CR Bard are reported to fail most frequently under normal conditions. 8000 patients that have experienced Bard IVC filter complications have filed Bard IVC filter lawsuits to hold the manufacturer accountable. They have alleged the Bard IVC device wobbles, perforates the inferior vena cave, and migrates to become lodged in a major organ like the lungs or heart and causing, pulmonary embolisms (PE), strokes, heart attack, deep venous thrombosis, and sudden death. Over $9 million have been awarded by juries to Bard IVC filter plaintiffs to date.

IVC filter removal is not always practical. There is no guarantee that the patient's underlying blood clot problems have been solved. According to the National Institute of Health, "Of 1,024 temporary IVC filters, removal was attempted in 60% and no attempt at removal (kept permanent) in 40%. Of the 619 with attempted removal, the overall successful retrieval rate was 95%. The majority of filters were not attempted to be removed because of persistent filter indications (360 cases)." IVC filters are being used primarily for patients that have undergone major surgery or are the victims of traumatic injury. There are other blood clots issues to be concerned about in addition to having surgery or being involved in a traumatic accident. Prolonged sitting, prolonged bed rest after surgery, complications during pregnancy, smoking, obesity, birth control pills, breast cancer medicines, cancer treatment, old age, family history, autoimmune system disorders, chronic inflammation, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, or Lyme disease), according to FamilyDoctor.org.

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
• 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 Struggle With Deciding When Is The Optimal Time To Remove A Patient's IVC Filter | 1/14/2022
• 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
• Patients Should Know Of All Of The Risks Of Having An IVC Filter Implanted To Trap Blood Clots | 11/12/2021
• Ozone Cleaning Products Are Not FDA Approved And May Be Responsible For CPAP Foam Insulation Breakdown | 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

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