MDL Judge Reorders Schedule For Bard IVC Filter Trial

MDL Judge Reorders Schedule For Bard IVC Filter Trial

Introduction

Following a summary judgment order granted by the U.S. District Judge presiding over C.R.Bard Inferior Vena Cava Filter (IVC) lawsuit set for trial, cases scheduled for upcoming bellwether trials have been reshuffled. The lawsuit filed by a plaintiff was slated to begin in September this year; however, it was dismissed since the statute of limitation expired on the claims.

In a case management order issued on July 13, Judge David G. Campbell indicated that the case would be replaced by a claim brought up by another plaintiff, which was expected to go to trial in November. Jury selection for this case will begin on September 18, 2018. Bard plans to appeal for a summary motion in this case, challenging a choice of law issue. The Court will address this issue on July 25, 2018. Additional trials are scheduled to begin on November 5, 2018, and February 11, 2019. The exact order of the cases would be confirmed once the parties file a briefing on the matter.

C.R. Bard faces more than 3,500 lawsuits over IVC filter complications like internal injuries due to device breakage and migration. Multidistrict litigation (MDL No.2641; In Re: Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation) was formed for centralized pretrial proceedings in the United States District Court District of Arizona on August 17, 2015.