The Bard PowerPort: A Closer Look
The Bard PowerPort, commonly known as the “PowerPort,” is a medical device designed for delivering medication, IV fluids, and more. It’s a vital tool for patients requiring repeated access to their vascular system. Crafted and distributed by an undisclosed corporate entity, this implantable port is surgically placed beneath the skin, staying in the patient long-term.
Key Components:
The device comprises an injection port and a flexible polyurethane catheter. The injection port, featuring a raised center or “septum,” serves as the entry point for medication delivery. The catheter, a small tube, carries medication from the port into the bloodstream.
Chronoflex AL Controversy:
The catheter, made of Chronoflex AL, has stirred controversy. Sourced from AdvanSource Biomaterials Corporation, it contains polyurethane and barium sulfate for enhanced visibility in radiologic studies. However, issues arise over time, with barium sulfate particles separating, leading to structural weaknesses, and compromising the catheter’s durability.
Manufacturing Defects:
Allegations suggest an excess of barium sulfate particles during production, causing irregular surfaces prone to fissures and cracks. These defects become breeding grounds for harmful microbes, heightening infection risks.
Injuries and Complications:
The Bard PowerPort’s design flaws make it prone to fractures and migrations, resulting in severe injuries such as hemorrhage, tamponade, thromboembolism, infection, arrhythmia, and persistent pain. Plaintiffs often fall into categories like infection, catheter fracture, deep vein thrombosis, catheter migration, and vascular damage.
In essence, the Bard PowerPort, touted as a medical boon, has faced scrutiny due to its design and manufacturing shortcomings, raising serious concerns about patient safety.
Bard PowerPort Lawsuits: Seeking Justice for Victims
In recent years, a surge of Bard PowerPort lawsuits has emerged due to inherent defects in the device. Individuals who suffered serious injuries post-implantation, caused by PowerPort fractures or malfunctions, are taking legal action against Bard Access Systems Inc., and its parent company, Beckton Dickinson.
These product liability lawsuits, now consolidated in an Arizona class action, allege that Bard was well aware of the device’s issues. Rather than rectifying the design or adequately warning of the associated dangers, Bard allegedly continued to aggressively market the PowerPort as safe.
The crux of the allegations revolves around three key points:
Bard is accused of neglecting to issue sufficient warnings about the potential dangers of PowerPort, misleading both physicians and patients.
Claims assert that Bard’s design of the PowerPort was inherently flawed, leading to fractures and serious injuries.
Lawsuits argue that the manufacturing process of the PowerPort was defective, further contributing to complications.
Eligibility to File a Lawsuit:
Individuals meeting the following criteria may be eligible to file a Bard PowerPort lawsuit:
Primary Complications & Failures:
The most common complicationis where the brittle nature of the device leads to tubing breakage, causing serious injuries and vascular damage.
Design flaws make the PowerPort susceptible to migration, potentially involving flexible tube parts, either alone or in conjunction with fracture.
Material flaws allow bacteria entry, leading to infections at the port site as the third major complication associated with the device.
These lawsuits aim to hold Bard accountable for the suffering caused by their allegedly defective PowerPort, seeking justice and financial compensation for affected individuals.
To find out if you are eligible for a Bard PowerPort Lawsuit, contact a PowerPort attorney right away. Call us at (888) 202-1350 to get in touch. If you have any questions, you can also text or email us at info@connect2attorney.com.
