On January 16, 2018, the District Court overseeing thousands of IVC filter lawsuits against medical device maker C. R. Bard issued an Order for jury selection in advance of the multidistrict litigation’s first bellwether trial – Sherr-Una Booker v. C. R. Bard Incorporated and Bard Peripheral Vascular Incorporated (2:16-cv-00474). This will be first time a jury will hear evidence against Bard from a plaintiff who allegedly suffered serious complications following implantation of a Bard blood clot filter device.
In August 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that its medical device database had received hundreds of reports detailing IVC filter complications associated with retrievable devices. And, on May 6, 2014, the FDA issued an updated safety communication warning of life-threatening complications with temporary retrievable filters that have not been removed as directed.
Presently, more than 3,400 IVC filter lawsuits are pending against C.R. Bard in the consolidated action in the District of Arizona (MDL 2641). The complaints allege that Bard concealed the potentially dangerous side effects associated with its retrievable IVC filters including filter migration, fracture, organ perforation, embolization, and inferior vena cava punctures, and failed to warn doctors and patients about these harrowing risks.
District Judge David G. Campbell’s Order in the Booker bellwether case provides the following timetable for jury selection and pretrial affairs:
- By January 16, 2018, the Clerk will mail a case-specific questionnaire to 200 jurors.
- On February 23, 2018, the Court will provide the parties with a list of prospective jurors the Court proposes to excuse for hardship.
- The final pretrial conference will be held on March 2, 2018.
- On March 14, 2018, sixty prospective jurors will be called to Court to appear for voir dire.
- The Court will seat nine jurors.
- Opening statements and evidence in Booker v. C. R. Bard will begin on the afternoon of March 14, 2018.
IVC FILTER ACTIONS
Paglialunga & Harris PS is currently accepting cases on behalf of people who suffered permanent and continuous injuries as a direct result of IVC filters. If you or a loved one has had an IVC filter implanted, please contact us immediately.
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