Class Action Says 'Defective' Vena Cava Filters Are 'Ticking Time Bombs'

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Six plaintiffs have filed a proposed class action that seeks for the proposed class appropriate diagnostic services and other declaratory relief that may be needed after implantation with Cook Group, Inc.’s allegedly inferior and defectively designed vena cava filters.

“The devices at issue have injured [the plaintiffs] and the class. These devices are ticking time bombs implanted in unsuspecting patients,” the complaint reads after noting that the relief sought by the action is consistent with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conclusion that doctors should consider removing the devices from patients as soon as any transient risk for pulmonary embolism has passed.

A vena cava filter is a medical device implanted by a radiologist or other cardio vascular doctor meant to “catch” blood clots that travel from the lower portions of the body to the heart and lungs to prevent potentially fatal pulmonary emboli. The 22-page lawsuit claims the defendants—Cook Group, Inc., Cook Incorporated, Cook Medical LLC and William Cook Europe APS—designed, marketed and sold the defective medical devices while failing to provide proposed class members with adequate information and warnings concerning the filters’ safety, effectiveness, and failure rates. The device models mentioned in the complaint are referred to as Gunther Tulip Mreye, Gunther Tulip Vena Cava Filter, Cook Celect Vena Cava Filter, and Cook Celect Platinum.

The complaint alleges the devices are prone to breaking into pieces that can then lodge into a vein, artery, or even the heart or lungs. Further, it’s possible for the filters to “break loose from the point of implantation” and move to other locations in the bloodstream, the case says. Such adverse events can reportedly be fatal for patients.

With patients and doctors reportedly so unsure of the safety of the devices, the lawsuit calls for each proposed class member to receive diagnostic testing to determine the safest course of action.