Bard PowerPort Lawsuit: Get the Right Lawyer

Update: PowerPort Injury Lawsuit Filed in New Jersey

A recent lawsuit [1] filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey alleges that a defective polymer design used with the Bard implanted port increases the risk of catheter bloodstream infections, dangerous blood clots, and punctured blood vessels.

According to the lawsuit, Plaintiff Mary Nelk suffered a PowerPort injury from a Bard PowerPort ClearVue Implanted Port Catheter after she was implanted with the device in Feb 2021 so she could receive nutrient treatments for her Crohn’s disease.

Just days after she received the port catheter, Nelk was hospitalized after developing pain in her large central veins, a hematoma, and a high fever, according to the lawsuit.

She was subsequently diagnosed with a bloodstream infection, and doctors also discovered the Bard PowerPort was no longer functioning.

As a result of these problems, Nelk claims she has required multiple hospital admissions for infections, and has been left with severe and permanent injuries.

“Rather than alter the design of the PowerPort to make it safer or adequately warn physicians of the dangers associated with the PowerPort, Defendants continued to actively and aggressively market the PowerPort as safe, despite their knowledge of numerous reports of thromboembolism and other serious injuries,” the complaint states.

Nelk’s lawsuit brings claims of negligence, failure to warn, manufacturing defect, design defect, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment, as well as violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Plaintiff is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.

What is the Bard Implanted Port Device?

The Bard PowerPort injection port is a small medical device that makes it easier and faster for doctors and nurses to give medications, intravenous drips, nutrients, and other treatments such as chemotherapy that require rapid injection into the patient’s bloodstream and body’s immune cells.

The implantable port has 1 or 2 small basins that are sealed with a soft silicone top, called a septum. The port-a-cath is placed by medical professionals under the skin of the chest or arm into the patient’s vascular system.

What’s the Problem?

A port and a silicone catheter are inserted directly into the vascular system as part of the Bard PowerPort implant. In some cases, the silicone parts break down in the body because the device is unable to withstand higher injection pressure.

Broken pieces of catheter and implant can then move through the patient’s vascular system. These broken silicone pieces can cause catheter infections, catheter fractures, and other serious injuries and illnesses.

Bard PowerPort lawsuits filed in district court alleging that medical device manufacturer Bard Access Systems Inc. failed to protect patients by not adequately warning the public and medical community about the risks linked to the PowerPort device and that the company knew or should have known about the higher risk of port-a-cat complications.

Additionally, the complaints allege that Bard could have used a safer alternative material for a normal port that would not have deteriorated in the body and prevented many catheter fractures, life-threatening injuries, and deaths.

Lawsuit Alleges Bard PowerPort Failure Caused Circulatory System Blood Clots

A Missouri woman has filed a product liability lawsuit against Becton Dickinson and its C.R. Bard subsidiaries, alleging that the companies sold a defective and unreasonably dangerous implantable catheter port device.

The complaint [2] was filed in February 2023 on behalf of Plaintiff Patrice Terry in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, indicating that the defendants failed to warn patients about the risk of complications with the Bard PowerPort ClearVue Implantable Port.

According to the lawsuit, Terry received a Bard PowerPort in her right internal jugular vein in March 2022, in order to provide easy catheter access for the delivery of chemotherapy drugs she required to treat colon cancer.

Unfortunately, less than a month after being implanted with the device, Terry was hospitalized for neck pain and swelling, the complaint states.

It was subsequently determined that Terry had developed a deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, in her neck, which resulted from a Bard PowerPort failure, as it was discovered that the port device had malfunctioned.

As a result of these problems, Terry was forced to undergo major invasive surgery, and now faces an increased risk of DVT in the future, as well as severe and permanent injuries, according to the lawsuit.

Terry contends that the medical device manufacturers knew or should have known about the problems with the catheter tube following numerous adverse event reports over the years, but the companies still failed to change its design or include new label warnings.

“At all times relevant to this action, Defendants knew and had reason to know, that the PowerPort was not safe for the patients for whom they were prescribed and implanted, because once implanted the device was prone to surface degradation and resulting thromboembolism, infection, mechanical failure, and a variety of other complications,” the complaint states.

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Get a Free Bard PowerPort Injury Lawsuit Evaluation With Our Law Firm

The Implanted Port Device Litigation Group at Schmidt & Clark, LLP law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in Bard PowerPort Lawsuits.

We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new Bard PowerPort Catheter cases in all 50 states.

Free Confidential Bard Access Systems Lawsuit Evaluation: If you or a loved one has been injured by Bard PowerPort Complications, you should contact a Catheter Infection Lawyer immediately for a free case evaluation.

You may be entitled to financial compensation for medical bills, legal fees, and punitive damages by filing a Bard PowerPort Catheter Lawsuit against Bard Access Systems Inc. and our legal team can help.