Judicial panel centralizes Bard IVC cases

A U.S. judicial panel this week consolidated a group of product liability lawsuits filed over C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) inferior vena cava filters under a single court in Arizona.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation pulled together 22 lawsuits filed in federal courts around the country and assigned them to the U.S. District Court for Arizona, under Judge David Campbell.

Another 16 cases could potentially tag along, the panel noted, according to court documents.

“After considering the argument of counsel, we find that the actions in this litigation involve common questions of fact, and that centralization in the District of Arizona will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation,” the panel wrote in the August 17 ruling. “All actions involve common factual questions arising from allegations that defects in the design of Bard’s retrievable inferior vena cava filters … make them more likely to fracture, migrate, tilt, or perforate the inferior vena cava, causing injury.”

Last month Bard revealed an FDA warning letter issued over problems found at a pair of plants that make devices to retrieve IVCs.

The July 12 warning letter from the watchdog agency’s Los Angeles office cited quality system and medical device reporting problems found during inspections at Bard plants in Glens Falls, N.Y., and Tempe, Ariz., the company said. The FDA letter affects 2 models of Bard’s recovery cone removal system, Bard said.

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