Lawyers Have Selected 24 Bard PowerPort Lawsuits For Case-Specific Discovery in MDL

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal Bard PowerPort lawsuits met with lawyers involved in the litigation today, to discuss plans for conducting case-specific discovery in a group of two dozen bellwether claims, which were selected by the parties last week, out of more than 322 cases currently pending in the MDL.

Each of the lawsuits involve similar allegations that the Bard PowerPort or another Bard port catheter device was defectively designed, leading to severe infections, fractures and other complications.

The totally implantable vascular access devices (TIVAD) are often used to deliver chemotherapy and other medications directly into a patient’s blood vessel, involving an injection port site, where a needle is inserted, as well as a polyurethane catheter tube that delivers the fluid to the body. However, the plaintiffs claim that the manufacturers knew or should have known that the catheter material is prone to degrade over time, allowing bacteria to develop or small pieces to break off.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in lawsuit filed throughout the federal court system, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) decided to establish a Bard PowerPort lawsuit MDL in August 2023, centralizing the litigation before U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings, including a series of early bellwether trials intended to help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the lawsuits.

In a joint memorandum (PDF) submitted to Judge Campbell on July 8, the parties confirmed that there are currently 322 cases pending in the MDL, with at least another 47 similar claims filed in New Jersey state court.

Early in the litigation, Judge Campbell directed the parties to select a group of 24 initial Bard PowerPort bellwether lawsuits, which will go through case-specific discovery and be prepared for the first trial dates in the litigation.

According to the memorandum, the parties exchanged lists of cases for inclusion in this discovery group on July 1, 2024. Plaintiffs in each of the 24 Bard PowerPort lawsuits selected will now be required to submit detailed Fact Sheets by July 31, 2024, providing written answers to a series of questions. The court will then determine a schedule and protocol for conducting depositions and other case-specific discovery.

In a minute entry posted this afternoon, Judge Campbell indicates that an order will soon follow outlining the case management and scheduling of the first bellwether trials. The parties will then meet again with the Court on August 16, 2024, for the next status conference.

While the outcomes of these early bellwether trials will not have any binding impact on other claims pending in the MDL, they will likely have a major impact on Bard Power Port settlement negotiations and any attempt to resolve large numbers of claims in the future.