No new trial for Bard in $4m vena cava filter loss

Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX) subsidiary C.R. Bard this week failed to win a new trial after a jury awarded nearly $4 million to the plaintiff in a bellwether product liability lawsuit brought over Bard’s inferior vena cava filter. Plaintiff Sherr-Una Booker was implanted in June 2007 with a Bard G2 IVC filter to mitigate her risk of pulmonary embolism during or after a surgery, according to court documents. By 2014 the G2 filter had tilted to penetrate the IVC’s wall and fractured, leaving one strut in Booker’s right atrium. During surgery in July 2014 to remove the filter and struts, her tricuspid valve was damaged, necessitating a subsequent open surgical repair. Surgeons were unable to remove one of the fractured struts, which remains embedded in the wall of Booker’s IVC, according to the documents. Booker sued in February 2016, alleging that the G2 device is more dangerous than other IVC filters, including a predicate Bard device, and that the company failed to warn doctors and patients about the risk. After a trial in March the jury found Bard liable on a negligent failure to warn claim, awarding $1.6 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages, according to the documents. Bard moved for judgment as a matter of law, contending that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict, and separately sought a new trial on the ground that the verdicts on the strict liability and negligent failure to warn claims a...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Cardiovascular Legal News bectondickinson crbard Source Type: news