An IVC filter that got stuck in the vein of a patient back in 2015 has led to a lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed earlier this month by a man from South Carolina. The plaintiff had the Option ELITE Retrievable Inferior Vena Cava filter on April 19, 2015. The procedure was performed at University Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.
On April 12, 2016, the same doctor who inserted the filter in the plaintiff tried to remove it from his body. When the doctor went to remove the filter he found that it had tilted 45 degrees. The doctor also found that the retrieval hook had become imbedded in the wall of the patient's vein. Even though the doctor put the patient through a complex procedure, the filter could not be removed.
The patient then went to a different doctor on June 29, 2016, to have the filter removed, which was successful, but it led to serious complications. Upon removal of the filter the doctor found that the IVC wall was damaged due to the hook being imbedded in the vein. The IVC is the body's largest vein and it carries blood that has been used from the body's lower half back to the lungs and heart to be re-oxygenated.
Most doctors will not risk removing embedded filters because the damage to the IVC can cause serious internal bleeding that could lead to death. But, the risk of leaving the filter in longer than recommended could lead to other serious complications. The FDA recommends that an IVC filter be in the body for a period of 29-54 days.
The lawsuit claims that Argon Medical failed to warn patients and doctors about the dangerous side effects associated with the filter. The plaintiff filed the lawsuit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on March 14, 2017.
An experienced products liability attorney can answer all of your questions regarding defective medical devices in Nashville, Tennessee, and advise you of your rights should you have been injured.
Source: Daily Hornet, "Lawsuit Filed Over IVC Filter Stuck in Vein," March 17, 2017