PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia judge has approved the creation of a qualified settlement fund for one medical device company named as a defendant in complex litigation related to damage for inferior vena cava filters, with Texas-based companies set to supervise the funds.
On Feb. 6, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Abbe F. Fletman granted the motion to create the fund from Angiotech, in an ongoing mass tort involving itself, Rex Medical, Argon Medical Devices and others, over injuries and damages reported by patients implanted with their vena cava filter devices.
Vena cava filters are metal instruments inserted into the inferior vena cava through the jugular vein. The umbrella-like shape of the device allows it to prevent blood clots traveling through the bloodstream before they can reach vital organs, preventing conditions like a pulmonary embolism.
Rex Medical’s Option Vena Cava Filter entered the market in June 2009, after receiving clearance from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Rex Medical later sold the entire product line to Argon Medical L.P. in 2015 for $160 million.
However, allegations surfaced in recent years that the vena cava filters made and distributed by Rex Medical and other companies had a propensity to fracture or move inside a patient’s body, placing them at risk for serious medical difficulties and death.
The case of one plaintiff, Tracy Reed-Brown, was the first vena cava filter action to go before a jury in Philadelphia in 2019. That October, a jury verdict was rendered in her favor of $33,684,140 – comprised of $3,368,414 to compensate for future medical expenses and for future pain and suffering and $30,315,726 in punitive damages.
While qualified settlement funds were motioned for and approved for Rex Medical and one of its co-defendants, Argon Medical Devices, in the spring of 2022, it was not until late last month that plaintiff counsel motioned for the creation of a similar fund for Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, another co-defendant in the case.
The Jan. 31 unopposed motion was jointly filed by David P. Matthews of Matthews & Associates in Houston, Texas, Ben C. Martin of Martin & Baughman in Dallas, Texas and Rosemary Pinto of Feldman & Pinto, in Philadelphia.
“Angiotech denies any and all liability to claimants. In an effort to resolve their outstanding disputes, Angiotech and plaintiffs’ leadership counsel (on behalf of claimants) entered into a confidential ‘master compromise, settlement, release and indemnity agreement for the settlement of claimants’ claims and actions against Corza Medical, Inc., on behalf of its affiliates Surgical Specialties Corporation and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’. Angiotech entered into the master settlement agreement solely to avoid the expense, inconvenience, and burden of litigation, and the distraction and diversion of its personnel and resources and has done so without admission of liability or wrongdoing,” the motion requesting the creation of the settlement fund stated, in part.
“The fund shall receive settlement proceeds from Angiotech in accordance with the terms of the Angiotech master settlement agreement, which resolved claims for injuries and damages allegedly sustained by participating claimants. The proceeds shall be transferred into the fund, which qualifies as a qualified settlement fund as defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 468B and the regulations thereunder, the creation of which shall be ordered by this Court to collect payments from the resolution and conclusion of the underlying legal action(s). The fund shall be established pursuant to order of the Court to resolve or satisfy one or more contested claims of alleged tort or violation of law that have resulted or may result from injuries and damages sustained by claimants. The Fund is subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the Court and is intended to qualify as a ‘qualified settlement fund.”
The motion further sought to appoint Frost Bank of Houston, Texas as the custodian of the fund Archer Systems, LLC, also of Houston, Texas, as the administrator of the fund.
The motion also requested “authorizing the fund to effect qualified or non-qualified assignments of any resulting structured settlement liability or deferred compensation agreement as directed in writing by claimants or their counsel,” and “authorizing the fund administrator to distribute the fund, consistent with the Angiotech master settlement agreement, including attorney fees and litigation expenses to counsel for claimants along with their co-counsel, in accordance with their existing contingency fee contracts, including the use of structured attorney fees.”
Fletman approved the motion the following week.
A status conference in the vena cava filter litigation will be held remotely over Zoom on March 15, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 170501600
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com