Jury Refuses To Award Punitives in Cook IVC Filter Trial

Jury Refuses To Award Punitives in Cook IVC Filter Trial

Introduction

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana declined to award punitive damages to a plaintiff who was granted $3 million in compensatory damages in the third Cook IVC Filter bellwether case.

The trial, overlooked by  Judge Richard Young, began on January 14 and involved claims that the IVC filter was defectively designed and prone to cause severe internal complications. At the end of the punitive damages trial, the jury responded with a "no" to the question of whether the plaintiff had proved clear and convincing evidence that there was reckless indifference on the part of the defendant. The plaintiff claimed failure-to-warn in her complaint, but Judge Young dismissed them on summary judgment.

Cook IVC filter lawsuits are centralized since October 2014 under MDL No. 2570 (In Re: Cook Medical, Inc., IVC Filters Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation), in the Southern District of Indiana.