Cook Medical loses $1m IVC suit, plans appeal

UPDATED May 30 with verdict amount.

Cook Medical said today that it plans to appeal the loss of a product liability lawsuit brought over its Celect vena cava filter.

The ruling came from a jury in Houston, which ruled in favor of a plaintiff, though the Bloomington, Ind.-based company did not release any detailed information related to the case. According to a May 29 press release from plaintiff Jeff Pavlock’s lawyers, the jury awarded $1.2 million in the case.

“We are dedicated to providing life-saving treatment options for patients and will continue to defend all of our IVC filters. Our filters have saved thousands of lives, are clinically successful and are critical to patient well-being,” Cook Medical vascular division VP Mark Breedlove said in a prepared statement.

Cook Medical said that it was successful in the first two cases over its IVC filters, winning a complete jury verdict in its favor in the first and through a complete summary judgement verdict in the second.

“We are disappointed in this outcome and do not believe this verdict is supported by the facts or the law. This one case does not change our position on continually defending this important, life-saving technology,” Cook Medical GC & VP Cynthia Kretz said in a press release.

Earlier this month, Cook Medical said it won FDA de novo clearance for its Hemospray endoscopic hemostat designed for treating bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract.