New York Cordis IVC Filter Law Firm

New York Cordis IVC Filter Law Firm. Cordis Corporation makes the OptEase and TrapEase IVC filters, which are designed to prevent pulmonary embolisms. There are many Cordis IVC filter lawsuits being filed in California state court where the Cordis Corporation is based over problems with the OptEase and TrapEase devices. Unfortunately, recent medical studies have found alarming rates of IVC filter strut fracture, strut perforation, migration, and tilting of the IVC filters when the filters are not removed after a few months.

Injured by an IVC Filter? Call Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm, We Can Help

New York Cordis IVC Filter Law Firm. The Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm is accepting and evaluating Cordis OptEase and TrapEase IVC filter injury cases nationwide. If you or somebody you know was injured by a Cordis IVC filter that broke, perforated, tilted or moved, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form to contact our law firm or call toll free 24 hours a day at 214-390-3189.

Our law firm is currently investigating Cordis IVC Filter Side Effect cases nationwide, including California, Florida, New York and Texas.

What are Cordis IVC Filters?

The Cordis IVC filter, also known as the Cordis OptEase retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filter, is a medical device designed to prevent blood clots from traveling to the lungs. The inferior vena cava is a large vein that carries blood from the lower body to the heart. Sometimes, blood clots can form in the lower extremities and travel through the bloodstream to the lungs, causing a potentially life-threatening condition called pulmonary embolism.

The Cordis IVC filter is implanted into the inferior vena cava to trap blood clots before they reach the lungs, reducing the risk of pulmonary embolism. It consists of a small metal frame with legs that extend outward to catch and trap clots. The filter is designed to be retrievable, meaning it can be removed once the risk of pulmonary embolism has decreased or resolved.

IVC filters are typically used in patients who are at risk of blood clots but cannot tolerate or are not responsive to anticoagulant medications (blood thinners). However, there have been concerns raised about the safety and effectiveness of IVC filters, particularly regarding the risk of filter migration, fracture, and perforation of the blood vessel wall.

Cordis Corporation makes two IVC filters, the OptEase and TrapEase. These devices are implanted in the inferior vena cava (IVC) to block blood clots from the leg before they cause pulmonary embolism.

The Cordis TrapEase is a permanent vena cava filter, which was approved by the FDA in 2001. The Cordis OptEase is a retrievable vena cava filter, which was introduced in 2003.

Cordis IVC Filter FDA Approval

Cordis IVC filters are designed to be temporary, and they were approved with a FDA 510(k) process that said they were “equivalent” to the Bard Recovery IVC filter, which was recalled in 2005, and the Cook Günther Tulip.

Both of these Bard and Cook filters have been associated with high rates of filter fracture, perforation, migration, and tilting.

About 200,000 blood-clot filters are implanted nationwide each year. The market for IVC filters is $435 million, according to market research firm Axis Research Mind.

Cook is one of the nation’s largest makers of blood-clot filters. It is one of three leading firms in the industry, along with New Jersey-based C.R. Bard Inc. and the Cordis subsidiary of California based Cardinal Health.

Temporary vena cava filters can cause severe complications when they are not removed. The rates of filter fracture, perforation, migration, and tilting increase the longer they remain implanted.

FDA Filter Warnings

In 2011, the FDA recommended removing IVC filters within 29 and 54 days after implantation. In 2008, the agency also issued a Safety Warnings after receiving over 900 adverse events involving complications, such as:

• Filter fracture
• Embolization of broken components
• Migration and tilt
• Organ damage (heart, lungs, kidneys, intestines)
• Perforation of the vena cava
• Internal hemorrhage (bleeding)
• Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
• Filter or broken parts embedded

FDA 2014 IVC Filter Recommendations

The FDA recommends that implanting physicians and clinicians responsible for the ongoing care of patients with retrievable IVC filters consider removing the filter as soon as protection from pulmonary embolism is no longer needed.

The FDA encourages all physicians involved in the treatment and follow-up of patients receiving IVC filters to consider the risks and benefits of filter removal for each patient.

A patient should be referred for IVC filter removal when the risk/benefit profile favors removal and the procedure is feasible given the patient’s health status.

Cordis IVC Filter Linked to 50% Fracture Risk

According to a 2005 study in the Journal of Trauma-Injury Infection & Critical Care, the Cordis OptEase IVC filters increased the risk of puncturing the vena cava wall after just a month, finding that strut perforation through the vena cava wall prevented safe removal after extended periods of time.

A Japanese study in November 2011 found that 10 out of 20 patients who were implanted with the Cordis TrapEase IVC filters had a fractured strut within 50 months of implantation.

Symptoms of IVC Complications

As reported in the Washington Post, Heidi Gribble Camp had an IVC filter implanted after nearly dying from a blood clot during a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The doctors assured her that leaving the device in would prevent problems in future pregnancies.

Over the next few years, a series of symptoms came and went intermittently – heart racing, flushed face, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and crippling back pain. “The pain was so horrible I wanted to die,” Camp recalled. When diagnosed with a cyst, she begged the doctor to remove her fallopian tube, ovary and the cyst, but the pain continued.

Finally, an interventional radiologist found that her health had been compromised by broken legs on the filter that put constant friction on her vertebrae. Her crippling pain disappeared as soon as the filter was removed. Patients like Camp are furious with their doctors who should have noticed the source of the problem and taken the filter out when it was no longer needed.

Cordis IVC Filter 2013 Recall

In March 2013, Cordis issued a Class 1 recall for about 33,000 OptEase IVC filters due to a labeling error that could cause the filter to be implanted backwards. If the fixation barbs are pointing in the wrong direction, there would be nothing to stop the filter from migrating to the patient’s heart.

IVC Filter Lawsuits

Over 1,300 Bard, Cook and Cordis IVC filter lawsuits have been filed as of August 2016. These lawsuits have been centralized in federal court — about 709 have been filed against C.R. Bard in Arizona (MDL No. 2641) and about 654 more have been filed against Cook Medical in Illinois (MDL No. 2570).

Cordis IVC filter lawsuits have been centralized in Alameda County, California, the home of Cordis corporation. To date over 100 lawsuits have been filed in California.

Cordis IVC Filter Injury? Contact Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm

New York Cordis Optease & Trapease IVC Filter Law Firm. The Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm is currently accepting Cordis OptEase and TrapEase IVC filter injury cases nationwide. If you or somebody you know was injured by an IVC filter that broke or moved, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our law firm or call toll free 24 hours a day at 214-390-3189.