Several medical device manufacturers have faced lawsuits over defectively designed, fracture-prone implanted port catheter systems. The most active litigation targets products made by C. R. Bard, now a subsidiary of Becton Dickinson.
Most port catheter litigation involves Bard’s implantable port systems, with the PowerPort, PowerPort ClearVUE, and PowerPort MRI being some of the most commonly named devices. Plaintiffs claim these ports fracture or crack inside the body, migrate from where they were placed, shed fragments into the bloodstream, and lead to infections or blood clots requiring surgical intervention.
A central claim in many of these cases is that the polyurethane material used in certain PowerPort devices degrades over time, raising the likelihood of device failure. These cases have been consolidated into MDL No. 3081 in federal court in Arizona, with thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide. Many of those affected are cancer patients who had the devices implanted to receive chemotherapy.
Individual lawsuits have also been brought against AngioDynamics, Smiths Medical, Teleflex, Cook Medical, and Medtronic, though these claims are generally more limited in scope. No litigation involving these companies approaches the scale of the ongoing Bard PowerPort MDL. Across the cases, common allegations include defective design, manufacturing defects, failure to warn doctors and patients about known risks, and misrepresenting how safe the devices are over the long term.
Complications from a Bard PowerPort or other implanted port catheter system may entitle you or a loved one to compensation. Atraxia Law has spent over 35 years reviewing defective medical device claims and can evaluate your records to see if you qualify to file. Reach out today for a free case evaluation.