Infected Bard PowerPort Caused Septic Embolism, Need for Port Catheter Removal: Lawsuit

Meadors states that he had a PowerPort implanted in December 2021 so he could receive immunoglobulin infusions. But almost a year later, in November 2022, he began experiencing abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

It was discovered that Meadors developed an infection caused by the port catheter, which resulted in a septic embolism. As a result, he had the infected Bard PowerPort device surgically removed later that month.

According to the complaint, manufacturers knew about problems with Bard PowerPort infections and failures but did not warn patients or the medical community.

“Defendants have concealed – and continue to conceal – their knowledge of the disproportionately dangerous risks of the PowerPort from Plaintiff and his doctors,” Meadors’ lawsuit states. “Prior to plaintiff’s implantation of the PowerPort, numerous reports of PowerPort catheter-related infections were recorded and reported to defendants through no fault of the medical provider.”

The lawsuit asserts claims of negligence, strict product liability, failure to warn, defective design, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment and violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages.

November 2023 Bard PowerPort Lawsuit Update

In light of general questions of fact and law raised in Bard PowerPort lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) voted in August 2023 to consolidate all Bard PowerPort lawsuits in the District of Arizona, and U.S. District Judge David Campbell was assigned to preside over coordinated pretrial proceedings.

The Meadors case is centralized with other claims to avoid duplication of discovery of common facts that apply to all cases, to avoid conflicting pretrial rulings by different judges, and for the convenience of common witnesses, parties, and the justice system.

As part of the administration of the port catheter lawsuits, Judge Campbell is expected to select a small group of representative cases to prepare for early trial dates to gauge how jurors will respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation. However, if the manufacturer is unable to negotiate settlements with Bard PowerPort under this MDL process, each case may later be remanded to the U.S. District Court where it was originally filed for a separate trial date in the future.