A Michigan federal judge has trimmed claims from a woman’s suit alleging the maker and seller of an inferior vena cava, or IVC, filter broke apart and injured her after implantation, saying that several of her claims were not made with specific enough allegations.
In an order filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain dismissed Argon Medical Devices Inc. entirely from Jessica L. Teal’s suit, and dismissed two of the four claims against Rex Medical Inc., leaving only her claims of negligence and breach of implied warranty against Rex.
In the suit, Teal said that she underwent surgery for the option filter made by Rex, and sold by Argon, in February 2014, then underwent another surgery to retrieve it in 2017, which found that it had broken and that a fractured strut on the implant had moved and injured her. She sued with claims for negligence, breach of implied and express warranty, and negligent misrepresentation against both companies.
In Judge Drain’s order, he wrote that Argon is a “non-manufacturer seller,” which carries different standards for claims than against the manufacturer, requiring Teal to allege that the company breached a duty to care.
Teal failed to meet this requirement, the judge wrote, saying the complaint does not allege an independent negligence on Argon’s part with regard to the first two counts for negligence and breach of implied warranty.