BARD IVC Filters Featured in NBC Investigative Report
BARD IVC Filters are used to prevent blood clots from entering a patient’s lungs. There are patients who are at increased risk of forming blood clots, but are unable to use blood thinners, so they are typically administered an IVC filter to catch the blood clots like a small web or net. IVC stands for inferior vena cava, which is the largest vein in the body that carries oxygenated blood back to the heart. A small device is inserted into the vein to capture blood clots so that they may be broken down naturally in the body, that device is an IVC Filter.
BARD IVC Filters Linked To 27 Deaths So Far
Per a recent NBC News Investigation, thousands of patients are walking around with a defective medical device inside them that may end up killing them. The ABC report focuses on one case in particular, whereby a woman was seriously injured. Her injuries made her a candidate for blood clot formations, and a BARD IVC Filter was surgically implanted into her vein. Four months later, she had a ‘debilitating headache’ and was rushed to the emergency room. Doctors performed an emergency open heart surgery to remove a piece of broken IVC Filter that had pierced her heart. It nearly killed her.
Complaints of Breakage and IVC Filter Migration
This is not an uncommon complaint about the BARD IVC Filter. Many patients have suffered serious internal injuries to their organs, including the heart and lungs, because of a BARD IVC Filter that had broken apart, or migrated through the body. BARD, the manufacturer of the IVC Filter, contends that the filters work when they are properly administered. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) disagrees, and has announced a safety alert about the device. A warning that was confirmed in the results of a research study conducted by the Journal of American Medical Association.
As of 2005, the FDA received 921 reports of BARD IVC Filter complications, including:
- Migration of the IVC Filter
- Perforation of the Vein or Internal Organs
- Breaking of the Device or Fracturing of Components
- Device Components Detaching
- Embolization