If you've suffered some serious medical complications after the insertion of an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter, you may be wondering whether your injuries were preventable. In other cases, the surviving family members of an individual who died shortly after an IVC procedure may wonder whether they'd still have their relative around had he or she chosen a different treatment option for chronic blood clots. Often, the injured party or his or her surviving family members could find themselves to be potential plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the IVC filter manufacturer or reseller. Depending upon the specific circumstances of the injury, the physician who recommended and/or installed the IVC filter may also be deemed partially liable. Read on to learn more about the pending IVC filter class action litigation, as well as what you can do to preserve your own rights if you feel you've been harmed through the use of an IVC filter.
Why are IVC filter manufacturers being sued?
IVC filters are designed to prevent blood clots from passing through the inferior vena cava to the lungs or brain, where they can cause nearly instant death. While this is a noble purpose, in some cases, these IVC filters malfunctioned – traveling to other parts of the body and sometimes even perforating heart valves during the trip.
Because of the sheer number of complications reported from the use of IVC filters and the relatively serious consequences of these traveling filters, in 2012, attorneys filed suit against one of the largest manufacturers of these filters. This lawsuit was expanded in 2014 to include even more plaintiffs, and is currently pending in federal court. Because new cases and complications continue to arise, this class isn't considered a "closed" one – those who have been injured due to a faulty IVC filter can continue to join and seek compensation from the manufacturer.
In some cases, a portion of a settlement or judgment against an at-fault manufacturer can be used to create a fund used to compensate plaintiffs who continue to be injured (or discover the complications of injuries) by the product at issue.
What are your options if you believe your injury (or your relative's death) was caused by an IVC filter?
If you feel as though you fall into the class of IVC plaintiffs, you'll want to contact an attorney. Joining a class action can be complicated, and you'll want to ensure you're fully aware of your rights before your join (or deliberately exclude yourself to preserve your own claims).
If you join a class action lawsuit, you'll be bound by the result. You generally won't be able to pursue a class action lawsuit and then extricate yourself from the class once you realize you're not on the same page as the other members, and you won't be able to re-sue on your own if you're dissatisfied with the result reached after trial or through settlement. On the other hand, a class action lawsuit can provide a number of benefits, including efficiency (helping lower your attorney's fees) and the greater threat of a large class of similarly-situated plaintiffs as compared with a more piecemeal series of personal injury lawsuits.
If you opt out of a class action lawsuit, you're free to pursue a lawsuit on your own with a private attorney. This may require your attorney to reinvent the wheel somewhat, seeking the same information and conducting the same depositions as the class action attorneys but will ensure that only you have control over the outcome – at least to the degree anyone has control over the outcome of a court case. To find a lawyer to represent you in an IVC filter lawsuit, check out a site like http://www.snyderwenner.com.
Share4 January 2017
Hello, my name is Matthew. Welcome to my site. I am here to talk to you about accident and personal injury attorneys. When I was involved in a serious accident, I had to recover for months in the hospital. My finances suffered due to mounting medical bills and lost wages. I dealt with considerable pain through every phase of the healing process. I worked with an accident and personal injury attorney to obtain compensation for the repercussions of the accident. I created this site to help others find an attorney to work with so they too could acquire compensation following an accident.