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Hospitalized After a Port Catheter Complication?

If a Port-a-Cath or Chemo Port broke, moved or leaked, tell us what happened.

Compensation Evaluation

Step 1 of 7

Did you or your loved one have a PowerPort, Port-a-Cath or Chemo Port implanted?

When a port breaks, the danger can travel.

Conceptual illustration of a fractured unbranded catheter and detached tip.

A Port-a-Cath or Chemo Port is implanted to deliver medication into the bloodstream. Attorneys are investigating ports that ruptured, fractured, moved or leaked.

Attorneys allege low-quality materials and missed safety steps weakened some catheters. A broken piece can travel through the bloodstream and lodge near the heart or lungs. A break can also let medication leak into nearby tissue. Reported complications include MRSA infection, sepsis and tissue death.

$40 millionPowerPort verdict

One patient took on Bard. A Jury made them Pay!

Symptoms patients have reported.

Conceptual translucent torso showing a port and points of reported pain in the chest and arm.

Patients have reported pain near the collarbone, pins and needles in an arm, an irregular heartbeat and palpitations after a port moved or fractured. A fragment lodged in the heart may require open heart surgery. If you notice symptoms, speak with your doctor.

In a study of more than 90,000 Medicare patients, 59% had at least one recorded complication within five years. That figure does not mean a device defect caused every event. Read the study.

Problems reported after a port implant.

Conceptual illustration of leakage near an unbranded implanted port connector.

Ports can remain implanted for years. Reports describe catheters breaking apart, becoming dislodged, moving away from the port or leaking. Leakage and device problems may raise the risk of infection.

  • Catheter breakage inside the body
  • Dislodgement or migration
  • Leakage and infection
  • Fragments lodged in the heart or lungs

Some patients need another procedure or emergency surgery after a serious complication.

Research and court history

From early research to a $40 million verdict

The early studies examined different catheters. The Bard and AngioDynamics cases follow separate court tracks.

Editorial illustration of catheter material research. Not an actual laboratory record.

Conceptual illustrations. The studies did not all examine Bard PowerPorts.

  1. Editorial illustration of catheter material research. Not an actual laboratory record.

    Early catheter research

    Researchers examined the surfaces of several catheter types. This was not a Bard PowerPort study.

  2. Editorial illustration of catheter material research. Not an actual laboratory record.

    A fracture under the microscope

    A case report on a different dialysis catheter found weak spots involving barium sulfate clusters and trapped air.

  3. Editorial illustration of catheter material research. Not an actual laboratory record.

    Material loss and infection questions

    A study of temporary dialysis catheters examined barium sulfate release, surface damage and bacterial growth. It did not test Bard PowerPorts.

  4. Editorial illustration of catheter material research. Not an actual laboratory record.

    Port materials tested

    Researchers compared materials from two other port catheter makers and found differences in surface and mechanical properties.

  5. Editorial illustration of court filings and an unbranded port. Not an actual case file.

    A PowerPort complaint

    A Kentucky PowerPort complaint alleged catheter fracture and failures to warn. Allegations are not findings of fact.

  6. Editorial illustration of court filings and an unbranded port. Not an actual case file.

    Bard cases grouped

    Federal Bard implanted port cases were centralized in Arizona for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

  7. Editorial illustration of court filings and an unbranded port. Not an actual case file.

    A separate port case track

    Federal AngioDynamics and Navilyst port cases were centralized in California, separately from Bard.

  8. Editorial illustration of court filings and an unbranded port. Not an actual case file.

    $40 million Bard verdict

    On September 4, a jury awarded one patient $40 million after a Bard PowerPort catheter fractured. It was an individual result.

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