Top Defective Medical Devices 2017

The byproduct of modern technology and advanced medicine is what we commonly refer to as “medical devices.” The medical device industry increases in size yearly as more and more medical devices are being patented, produced, and distributed nationwide. These machines and implants are supposedly more effective than human or natural methodologies. Most people have come to trust modern medicine and thus the devices that are used on them or placed in them by medical professionals. However, as one of the nations most investigative defective pharmaceutical device firms, we were alarmed to see the increase in incidents reported last year involving a defective medical device.

Bair Hugger Warming Device

Orthopedic Surgery Infection Lawsuit

Many associate defective medical devices with devices that are implanted within your body, like a defective knee implant or dangerous hernia mesh. However, the Bair Hugger Warming Blanket is a device that is used to help facilitate orthopedic surgeries.

The warming blanket helps maintain patient body temperature by forcing warm air towards the patient's joints during knee and hip surgeries. Now claims are being made that the device is defective, and that is has caused patients to suffer life-threatening infections as a result of being exposed to bacteria. As of 2018, more than 4,000 cases against Bair Hugger have resulted due to claims of infections; these cases are currently consolidated in the state of Minnesota.

The pressure has since forced maker 3M & Bair Hugger to an FDA recall of the Bair Hugger warming blanket, issued this February 2018.

DePuy Sigma Knee Replacement

DePuy Recalls (Class II) Mount in Number

The DePuy Sigma knee replacement system is noteworthy because even though the device may not have been recalled in totality, many of its different components were recalled. DePuy is a leader when it comes to the total number of FDA class I and II recalls over the last ten years; with recent recalls for components of the Sigma partial knee implants.

Furthermore, in their recall of these components, they suggested that in place of partial knee reconstruction surgery (that would involve using some of the recalled components) medical professionals instead recommend a full knee replacement and still use one of their Sigma models for such surgery. DePuy has amassed over 400 class II recalls within the last decade, some of which included components of knee and hip implants. The sheer number of DePuy recalls is alarming for a company that produces a vast amount of the countries medical devices.

Neptune Waste Management System

FDA Class I Recall Issued for Dangerous Surgical Device

To reinforce the misconception that defective medical devices are typically implanted is another top defective medical device used primarily in surgery only, the Neptune Waste Management System. This device is used nationwide during surgeries to help eliminate surgical waste. The Neptune Waste Management System was subject to one of the FDA’s most serious recalls, a class I recall. Class I recalls are issued when the FDA believes the device could be deemed likely to cause serious or life-threatening damages.

The system though is a staple in hospitals across America and without it, hospitals were left wondering what to use in its place; forcing the FDA to ends its recall after hospitals lobbied an initiative to train its employees to use the device correctly. However, claims of hemorrhaging, muscle damage, and other soft tissue damage have been made in surgeries involving the Neptune Waste Management System.

IVC Filter

Perforated Organs & Migrating Devices

Defective IVC filter claims are being nationwide by plaintiffs who claim they suffered punctured veins, organ damage, and other serious side effects. In addition, some reports claim that the filters migrated from their insertion location to other places within the body. In a hand full of these migrated filter cases, the filter could no longer be retrieved from the patient's body.

As a result of the controversy surrounding the defective IVC filters the manufacture, Cook Medical and Brand, is currently facing several thousand lawsuits.

Atrium Hernia Mesh

Fish Oil Hernia Mesh Infection Lawsuit

Hernia mesh victims nationwide are left wondering how their hernia mesh escaped the necessary preliminary FDA clinical trials. Atrium Hernia C-QUR mesh was approved by the FDA without the necessary testing because it was similar to products already available on the market.

The C-QUR mesh was unique from other products though, as it was the first and only type of mesh available with a fish oil coating. The fish oil coating was the cause of a 2013 FDA recall of the C-QUR hernia mesh due to the oil sticking to packaging when exposed to moisture.

The mesh is currently at the center of several lawsuits that claim life-threatening infections, mesh folding and bunching, and resulting side effects.

Dangerous Medical Device Lawsuit

If you or a loved one was harmed by a dangerous medical device or during surgery then consulting an attorney from our firm may help you start a case. The defective medical device attorneys from our firm have fought on behalf of victims like you against the makers of defective surgical and medical devices.

Devices like the Bair Hugger Warming Blanket, IVC filter, and C-QUR hernia mesh will keep coming to market without proper testing as the years go on. If you have experienced life-threatening side effects as a result of a defective medical device then contact an attorney from our firm today to hold the pharmaceutical companies accountable.