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The Cook Medical, Inc. IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation (MDL 2570) was established in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana by the Judicial Panel of Multidistrict Litigation on October 15, 2014. Presently, the first Cook IVC filter bellwether trials are scheduled to begin on October 2, 2017.

With these first jury trials quickly approaching, on March 7, 2017, Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker issued an order setting three settlement conferences for the MDL cases. Per the court order, representative counsel for the respective parties will appear before the Court on the following dates to discuss a possible resolution to the litigation:

July 26, 2017 – Plaintiffs’ counsel shall appear for a settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Baker. Neither Defendants nor Defendants’ counsel may participate in this conference. The Court anticipates the conference will last a half day, though discussions could continue, as needed, depending upon the progress made.

August 4, 2017 – Defendants’ counsel (as well as one or more of Defendants’ representatives with full settlement authority) shall appear for a settlement conference before the Magistrate. Neither Plaintiffs nor Plaintiffs’ counsel may participate in this conference. The Court anticipates that counsel who appear for this conference will consist of the lead settlement counsel for Defendants. The Defendants’ representatives in attendance must have actual authority to negotiate a resolution, without the need to contact others who are not present at the conference.

August 9, 2017Plaintiffs’ counsel shall appear for a follow-up settlement conference.  The Magistrate Judge will contact Plaintiffs’ lead counsel in advance of this follow-up conference to discuss settlement in light of the conference conducted with Defendants.

In order for these settlement discussions to be meaningful, counsel for the parties and their counsel must realistically assess their settlement positions and litigation risks, and work with the Magistrate Judge in good faith to determine whether a settlement can be achieved.

The Court may schedule additional settlement conferences, as appropriate, to assist in resolving this matter.

Scientific Studies and FDA Warnings 

In August 2010, the FDA issued a warning about the risk of IVC filter side effects, warning that the agency had received hundreds of adverse event reports where filters broke free and migrated to other areas of the body or caused perforation types of injury in organs and blood vessels

In an April 2012 study in the Cardiovascular Interventional Radiology, researchers found that 100% of Cook Celect and Gunther Tulip IVC filters perforated patients’ venal cava wall within 71 days after implant. The study also showed that 40% of the filters became tilted and out of position.

A year later, in 2013, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine questioned the effectiveness of IVC filters, finding that less than 10% of filters evaluated in the study were successfully removed from patients and 8% of recipients of IVC filters suffered a pulmonary embolism despite the filter’s presence.

In May 2014, the FDA urged doctors to remove IVC filters within about one to two months after the risk of a pulmonary embolism has passed, highlighting that many doctors were not adequately warned about the importance of retrieving the devices.

With the Cook IVC bellwether trials only a few months away, litigants will be watching closely to see if the parties can reach a resolution for the hundreds of pending product liability lawsuits concerning the Cook IVC filters.

Do You Have a Case?

Paglialunga & Harris, PS has the medical legal expertise and resources to successfully prosecute IVC filter cases to resolution. If you or someone you care about has been implanted with an IVC filter please call Paglialunga & Harris, PS.

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