Lawsuits are being filed by people who were injured by a chemotherapy port.
What You Can Do & How We Can Help
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting chemo port induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know was injured by a chemotherapy port, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Medical Device Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
What is a Chemo Port?
Chemotherapy ports are medical devices that are implanted under the skin of a patient to make it easier for healthcare professionals to inject medicines and take blood draws as part of a cancer treatment plan.
Chemo ports consist of two parts: an injection port, where the needle is inserted to deliver chemotherapy or other medications; and a long flexible tube called a catheter that delivers the medicine to a vein.
Types of Chemo Ports
There are many types of chemo ports, including single lumen (one access point) and double lumen (two access points). Some of the most popular devices on the market today include:
- Bard PowerPort M.R.I. Port Catheter
- Port-a-Cath
- TIVAD (Totally Implanted Venous Access Device)
- Venous Catheter
- Mediport
- And more
Risks & Benefits of Chemo Ports for Cancer Treatment
When they work, implanted ports are usually better for patients because they help prevent “chemo veins,” a problem in which smaller veins are severely damaged by harsh medicines and repeated IVs.
But when chemo ports do not work, patients who are already medically fragile may develop life-threatening side effects, or require emergency surgery to remove the defective port and catheter system.
What is the Problem?
In recent years, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed by patients who were injured by a chemo port. In many lawsuits, patients who were already very sick with cancer were forced to undergo a major surgery to remove the port and treat complications.
Chemo Port Lawsuits Centralized in MDL
Chemo port lawsuits are being filed nationwide. Hundreds of lawsuits involving the Bard PowerPort have been centralized into a Multi-District Litigation (MDL No. 3081) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona under U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell.
The MDL coordinates a lot of similar lawsuits into one court, under one judge. In the future, lawsuits may be selected to go to trial, where juries will decide whether to award financial compensation to people who were injured.
According to federal judges overseeing the MDL, lawsuits claim:
“Defendants manufacture the catheter component of their port devices with a concentration of barium sulfate that is too high, which reduces the material integrity of the catheter, and can lead to injuries, including infection, fracture of the catheter, migration of the catheter, and thrombosis.”
Chemo Port Lawsuit Filed by Injured Woman
In June 2023, a lawsuit was filed by a woman from Iowa who was injured by a Bard PowerPort M.R.I.
The woman was implanted with the Bard PowerPort for the treatment of breast cancer. In March 2021, her chemo port would not flush. Doctors were unable to remove the blockage, and determined that her port would need to be surgically removed.
According to her lawsuit, “physicians found the PowerPort had fractured, and they were unable to find the missing fractured piece in the plaintiff’s body.” She was forced to undergo a second emergency surgery to locate and remove the broken piece of her PowerPort.
Her chemo port lawsuit was filed on June 23, 2023 against Beckton, Dickinson and Company; C.R. Bard Inc.; and Bard Access Systems Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa — Case Number 4:23-cv-00214-SHL-SBJ.
Do I have a Chemo Port Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting chemo port induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know was injured or needed surgery when a chemotherapy port failed or broke, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Medical Device Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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