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Home / Mass Tort / Bard PowerPort Lawsuit
The port was supposed to make treatment easier. Then came a fever that would not break, a clot, or a scan showing a piece of the catheter where it was never meant to be. If that happened to you, a participating law firm may review your Bard PowerPort lawsuit claim for free.
Had a problem with your port?
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Eligibility
You may qualify if any of these describe you or someone you love. These are the guidelines participating law firms use when they review a Bard PowerPort claim.
Any Bard implanted port: PowerPort, PowerPort MRI, ClearVUE, isp, Slim or Duo. Not sure of the brand? That is normal, and a firm can find out.
A split or fracture in the tubing, or a broken piece that traveled through the bloodstream to the heart or lungs.
A bloodstream infection or sepsis traced to the port, often meaning a hospital stay and a pause in your treatment.
Deep vein thrombosis, another clot linked to the device, or a perforation of a vein or the heart wall.
Removal, replacement, or a procedure to retrieve a broken fragment. Surgery makes a claim materially stronger.
A spouse, child or estate representative may be able to file a wrongful death claim. These deadlines usually start on the date of death.
Do not know what brand of port you had?
Almost nobody does. It is written in your operative report and the hospital's implant log, and a firm can pull those records for you. Not knowing is not a reason to skip the review.
Meeting these guidelines does not mean you have a valid claim. It means a participating law firm is likely to review it, and that firm decides on its own whether to take your case. Direct2Attorney cannot judge the legal merits of your case, give legal advice, or file anything for you.
About the device
A port catheter is a small disc placed under the skin of the chest, usually just below the collarbone. A thin tube runs from it into a large vein near the heart. It lets doctors give chemotherapy, antibiotics or nutrition, and draw blood, without finding a new vein every time.
The lawsuits are about what the tube is made of. Bard's catheter blends polyurethane with barium sulfate, a powder added so the tube shows up on X-rays. Plaintiffs allege the particles do not stay evenly mixed and leave tiny pits and weak spots over time.
The claims allege that Bard and its parent company, Becton Dickinson, knew about these risks for years and had safer options available, but kept selling the device without an adequate warning.
How the failure is said to happen
Barium moves to the surface
Tiny pits and weak spots form in the tubing.
The tube cracks or breaks
A loose piece can travel to the heart or lungs.
Germs and clots take hold
The rough surface is linked to infections and blood clots.
| Device named in claims | What to know |
|---|---|
| PowerPort | The core implanted port named across the litigation, widely used for chemotherapy access |
| PowerPort MRI | Designed to stay safe during MRI scans; named in filed claims |
| PowerPort ClearVUE | A later version in the same product family, also named in claims |
| PowerPort isp | Included in the litigation alongside the other PowerPort models |
| PowerPort Slim / Duo | Lower-profile and dual-lumen versions of the same design |
Device names are used only to identify the products at issue. Direct2Attorney is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by C.R. Bard, Bard Access Systems, Becton Dickinson, the FDA, or any court.
The medical side, in plain words
A port stays in your body for months or years. Most work as planned. When one fails, it usually comes down to one of these four things.
Like a garden hose left in the sun, the material can weaken, crack and split. The lawsuits say the barium in Bard's tubing makes this more likely.
Between the collarbone and the first rib, everyday arm movement can pinch the catheter again and again until it breaks.
Each time the port is used, bacteria can enter. A rough surface gives them a place to grow and spread into the blood.
Blood can stick to the catheter and block the line or the vein. In serious cases a clot can travel to the lungs.
Some patients feel nothing at all
A broken piece is often found by chance on a routine X-ray or scan. If your doctor told you a fragment was found, that still counts.
Treatment
Treatment depends on what went wrong. Each step also leaves a record, and those records later show what the device cost you.
General information only. Your care team decides your treatment.
Finding the problem
X-ray, CT, ultrasound or a heart scan to find a break, clot or fragment, plus blood cultures for infection.
Infection
Often a hospital stay. If the infection will not clear, the port usually has to come out.
Blood clot
Medicine to stop the clot growing, sometimes for months. A blocked line may be cleared or replaced.
Broken catheter
A specialist threads a thin wire through a vein to catch the loose piece. Open surgery is rare but possible.
Afterwards
The old device comes out and, if treatment continues, a new port or line is placed.
The hidden cost
Chemo or other care may pause while the port is fixed. That delay matters in a claim.
Quick self-check
If you can say yes to most of these, it is worth asking for a free review.
Was a port placed in your chest or arm for chemo, dialysis or IV medicine?
Did a doctor find a break, a loose piece, an infection or a clot tied to it?
Did it lead to extra care, a procedure, or the port coming out?
Did it happen in the last few years, or are you asking for someone who died?
Requirements
You do not need any of this to start. A firm collects it for you. But every claim is built on these four things.
Proof of the device
Operative report or implant log naming the port.
Proof of the injury
A diagnosis, scan or lab result.
A link between them
Records showing the port caused it.
Filed in time
Each state sets its own deadline.
Case status
Federal cases are consolidated as MDL 3081 before Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona. Firms are still accepting new cases.
Ignore the payout figures online
There is no global settlement, fund or payment matrix. The ranges quoted on other sites are guesses, and one verdict does not set the value of anyone else's claim.
Cases grouped as MDL 3081
Federal port catheter cases are combined in one court in Arizona.
First test trial: a split result
In Cook v. Becton Dickinson, Bard won on failure to warn and the jury could not agree on design defect.
Fracture claims cleared for trial
The next test case survived summary judgment, sending catheter fracture claims to a jury for the first time.
$40 million plaintiff verdict
In Divelbliss v. Becton Dickinson, a fracture case, the jury found for the plaintiff on design defect and failure to warn and awarded $40 million in compensatory damages. No punitive damages were awarded.
4,140 cases pending
More test trials are scheduled for October 2026, December 2026 and February 2027.
This is not medical advice. If you have a port now and notice fever or chills, redness or swelling at the site, swelling in the arm, neck or face, trouble flushing the line, or a racing heartbeat, contact your medical team right away. Do not stop or change any treatment based on what you read here.
Compensation
If a claim succeeds, compensation is meant to cover what the failure cost you, in money, in work and in life.
No one can tell you what your claim is worth before reviewing your records, and no one can promise you will recover anything. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Fees, costs and liens come out of any recovery.
The process
You do not need to know the brand of your device or follow the court docket. We guide you from the first question to a firm that handles these cases.
Fill out the short form or call. Share when the port was placed, why, and what went wrong.
If your situation fits, a participating firm looks at it on its own and decides whether to represent you.
It pulls your operative report and implant log, gathers your records, and files in MDL 3081.
Your firm keeps you updated. You never have to accept an offer you do not want.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Step 1 takes about two minutes.
Why people use us
No upfront fees
The review is free. Participating firms work on contingency. No recovery, no attorney fee.
Firms in this MDL
We connect you with firms already working inside MDL 3081 and following the test trial schedule.
We help find your device
Not knowing the brand stops most people. Your records have the answer, and a firm can pull them.
Private and secure
Your information is encrypted and handled per our Privacy Policy. You are never obligated to move forward.
What Direct2Attorney is
A legal marketing and referral service. We check whether your situation matches what participating law firms are looking for, and connect you with one of them if it does.
What Direct2Attorney is not
We are not a law firm. We cannot give you legal advice, represent you, or file anything on your behalf. Only a law firm you sign with can do that.
Firms are reviewing new Bard PowerPort claims
If your port cracked, moved, clotted or caused an infection, find out where you stand. You do not need to know the brand. Your state's filing deadline is already running.
What happens after you ask
We check your answers
Usually the same business day
A participating firm may call you
At the time you choose
You decide what comes next
No cost and no obligation, ever
Questions
Still have a question? Ask it on the call. The review is free, and there is no obligation.
Start my free review →Participating law firms are generally reviewing claims from people who had a Bard PowerPort or similar Bard implanted port catheter and then suffered a qualifying complication — the catheter cracking or breaking, a piece moving somewhere it should not be, a bloodstream infection or sepsis, a blood clot, or a tear in a vein or the heart. Family members may be able to file for a loved one who has died.
Most patients do not know the brand, and that is normal. You may have been given an implant card at discharge. If not, the device name and lot number are recorded in your operative report and in the implant log at the hospital where it was placed. You can request those records yourself, and a participating law firm can also request them for you once you sign an authorization.
The first test trial, Cook v. Becton Dickinson, ended in May 2026 with a split result. Bard won on the failure-to-warn claim, and the jury could not agree on the design defect claim, so that question was left unresolved. It was not a plaintiff win. Five more test trials are scheduled through February 2027, and the next one cleared a major legal hurdle in July 2026, sending catheter fracture claims to a jury for the first time.
Update: that next trial, Divelbliss v. Becton Dickinson, ended on September 4, 2026 with a $40 million compensatory verdict for the plaintiff.
The complications most often reviewed are catheter fracture or cracking, a broken piece migrating through the bloodstream, bloodstream infection or sepsis, deep vein thrombosis or other blood clots, and perforation or tearing of a vein or the heart. Needing surgery to remove or replace the device strengthens a claim.
Nothing to ask. The case review is free with no obligation. If a participating law firm takes your case, it will normally work on contingency. That means the fee comes out of a recovery, and no fee is owed if there is no recovery.
Probably not. New claims continue to be filed and the litigation is still in an active recruiting phase. Each state sets its own deadline, usually between one and six years, and in many states the clock starts when you learned the device may have caused your injury rather than on the day it happened. Only an attorney licensed in your state can confirm your deadline.
No. Direct2Attorney is a legal marketing and referral service, not a law firm. An attorney-client relationship may form only after a participating law firm reviews your information and signs a separate representation agreement with you.
In the news
Plain-English articles from our editorial team on the latest rulings, trials and deadlines, and what each one means if you are thinking about a claim.
Official resources
