Bard PowerPort Lawsuit Referrals
The Lanier Law Firm is one of the most experienced litigation firms in the world, with a successful track record that spans more than three decades and more than 60 attorneys in offices across the nation. The firm has significant experience in a broad array of areas, including pharmaceutical and product liability, personal injury, business fraud, asbestos exposure and business litigation.
We carefully evaluate each case referred to the firm and commit to open lines of communication and transparency with clients and referring attorneys at each step of the litigation.
Legally Reviewed By: Rebecca Phillips
Mass Torts Director
- Page Last Updated:
- September 27, 2023
Bard PowerPorts can cause serious life-threatening complications, including blood clots, infections, and vital organ damage, according to lawsuits filed nationwide against manufacturer C.R. Bard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Becton Dickinson and Co.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has received hundreds of adverse event reports from patients implanted with Bard PowerPorts, but the company continues to market the products as safe and effective without recalling them, adjusting the product, or adding warnings to the label.
At the Lanier Law Firm, we are passionate about holding large corporations accountable for harming individuals. We accomplish this by using lawsuits to hold them accountable for every person they harm. When you hire the Lanier Law Firm, you can trust that our passionate and experienced pharmaceutical liability lawyers will aggressively seek justice.
“Hi, my name’s Rebecca Phillips and I’m an attorney at The Lanier Law Firm, where we’re helping individuals who have been harmed by Bard PowerPorts. In fact, we’ve recently been named as a co-lead in the Bard PowerPort Multidistrict Litigation. So, what is a Bard PowerPort? Well, it’s a medical device that is implanted into a patient’s body when a doctor will need repeated access to the patient’s vascular system. For example, the Ports can be used to administer IV nutrition, or they can be used to administer medicine, like chemotherapies, or they can be used to withdraw blood when the patient’s going to need blood withdrawn on a regular basis.
So what’s wrong with these Ports? Well, the lawsuits allege that these devices are defective, and they can fail in one of three ways. Number one, they can fracture, and when they fracture, pieces of the device can end up in some pretty scary places, like a patient’s heart. Number two, they can cause severe life-threatening infections. And number three, they can cause blood clots. And these blood clots can also be life-threatening.
So what’s the defect? Well, the lawsuits allege that barium sulfate was left exposed on the outer surface of these devices, and when the devices were implanted, barium sulfate degrades in vivo, which causes divots and cracks on the surface of the device. It creates the places where the fracture points happen, where the breaks happen, and it creates divots that bacteria can hide in and increase the risk for blood clots.
That’s why The Lanier Law Firm is pursuing this litigation on behalf of clients who have been injured by these devices. So if you or someone you know has had a Bard PowerPort implanted in their body and has experienced one of these injuries, please give us a call, and we’ll do a free assessment on whether or not you might have a case. We’re here to help. Again, my name’s Rebecca, and I work at The Lanier Law Firm, where we are in the co-leadership of the Bard PowerPort Multidistrict Litigation. We’re happy to help.” – Rebecca Phillips, Mass Torts Director
Bard PowerPort Case Timeline
September 19, 2023 – The US District Court for the District of Arizona has appointed Lanier Law Firm’s own Rebecca Phillips as Co-Lead Counsel on the Plaintiff’s Leadership Counsel on MDL No. 3081, In Re: Bard Implanted Catheter Product Liability Litigation.
August 9, 2023 – Yesterday, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized federal PowerPort cases in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona before the Honorable David Campbell. Judge Campbell was appointed to the bench in 2003 and, since that time, has presided over multiple MDLs, including In re: Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation, case number 2:15-md-02641.
July 27, 2023 – Plaintiffs argued before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”) that PowerPort cases should be consolidated for pretrial proceedings. Plaintiffs proposed consolidation in the Western District of Missouri, a place where cases have already been filed. Defendant opposed consolidation on the basis that some Plaintiffs injuries were, in its view, not attributable to the PowerPort. Defendant proposed either Utah or Arizona as appropriate venues if the JPML was inclined to consolidate the cases.
June 16, 2023 – The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation filed a notice that it will hear oral arguments on July 27, 2023, in San Francisco about whether to create a centralized federal MDL. If created, all pending litigation and any future lawsuits filed in federal court will be transferred to a single judge regardless of where they originated. The judge is likely to institute a selection process to hold trials in a few bellwether cases.
May 24, 2023 – Plaintiffs in various cases requested that the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidate Bard PowerPort Lawsuits into a multidistrict litigation and that the cases be transferred to the Western District of Missouri. According to the motion, at least ten lawsuits have been filed in various federal districts nationwide, and many more are expected.
July 8, 2019 – The FDA cleared Bard Power-Injectable Implantable PowerPorts through the 510(k) process.
June 7, 2019 – The FDA makes the ASR database public. In response to the public outcry to the Kaiser Health report, and starts requiring companies to report adverse events through the publicly accessible MAUDE database.
March 7, 2019 – Kaiser Health publishes a report revealing that medical device companies were filing reports of device malfunctions to the FDA in secret.
December 29, 2017 – Becton Dickinson and Co. acquires C.R. Bard and is believed to have taken on Bard’s liabilities. This company earns approximately $16 billion in annualized revenue.
February 14, 2014 – The FDA clears the PowerPort Implantable Port through the 510(k) process.
November 15, 2012 – The FDA clears the PowerPort Clearvue Slim Implantable Port through the 510(k) process.
March 27, 2009 – C.R. Bard receives a 510(k) clearance for the PowerPort Due MRI Implanted Port with 9.5 Fr. Dual Lumen Chronoflex Polyurethane Catheter.
June 4, 2008 – The FDA clears the Powerport Implanted Port with Groshong Catheter.
December 19, 2007 – C.R. Bard receives a 510(k) clearance for the MRI Powerport Implanted Port with 9.6 Fr. Silicone Catheter.
November 14, 2007 – C.R. Bard receives clearance through the FDA’s 510(k) process for the Titanium PowerPort Isp Implanted Port with 6 Fr Chronoflex Polyurethane Catheter.
November 1, 2007 – The FDA clears C.R. Bard’s Powerport Polymetric Port with 8 Fr S/L Chronoflex Catheter through the 510(k) process.
January 25, 2007 – C.R. Bard receives an FDA 510(k) clearance for the Powerport Polymetric Port with 8 Fr S/L Chronoflex Catheter.
July 14, 2006 – The FDA grants multiple 510(k) clearances for C.R. Bard’s Implanted Titanium Port with 8 Fr. Chronoflex Catheter.
Why Choose the Lanier Law Firm to Handle Your Bard PowerPort Lawsuit
Since our establishment in 1990, our nationally recognized defective products lawyers have won nearly $20 billion in verdicts and settlements on behalf of our deserving clients, including the following:
- $9 billion verdict against Takeda & Eli Lilly for cancer associated with the diabetes drug Actos
- $4.85 billion National Vioxx Settlement against Merck & Co.
- $4.69 billion verdict against Johnson & Johnson in the first trial linking asbestos in baby powder to ovarian cancer
- $1.05 billion against DePuy Orthopaedics and Johnson & Johnson for defective hip implants
- $253 million in the first verdict against Vioxx in the United States
- $57 million national settlement for Yaz birth control victims
- $56 million verdict against Biomet for defective metal-on-metal hip implants
Going against large drug companies like Becton Dickinson and Bard requires extensive financial resources that can be invested upfront. It also requires trial skills that can match the skills of the most expensive lawyers hired by the pharmaceutical companies.
At the Lanier Law Firm, we are not afraid to go against large companies. Law360 designated us the Most Feared Plaintiffs Firm in 2014. Our attorneys have also received prestigious awards, including the following:
- Best Lawyers in America
- Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdict by Courtroom View Network
- Best Law Firms, Tier 1 Ranking
- Largest Verdict of 2018, by Verdict Search and the National Law Journal
Our founder, Mark Lanier, has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as the 2018 Trial Lawyer of the Year and is included among their top 50 most influential lawyers in the United States.
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