U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell presiding over C.R. Bard's inferior vena cava filter (IVC) MDL issued an order on July 9, stating ten mature cases would be remanded back to different federal courts for trial as these were already underway when the MDL was established. The parties are required to file a joint summary proposal about the case developments by July 27.
Judge Campbell also mentioned, "The summary generally should chronicle the MDL proceedings, summarize the key MDL legal and evidentiary rulings that will affect the remanded cases, identify any remaining discovery or other pre-trial issues, and estimate the time needed to resolve such issues and make the cases ready for trial.” Though these ten cases were not considered as "bellwethers", the trials would be closely watched by attorneys involved in the litigation, which may affect the settlement values in other claims. In yet another product liability case filed by Carol Kruse against Bard's IVC blood vessel filter, an Arizona jury ordered a summary judgment, stating the statute of limitation expired on the claims and canceled the bellwether trial which was scheduled for September 2018.
C.R. Bard faces numerous lawsuits over complications related to the IVC filter, stating the device is prone to break and injure internal organs. A 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.
