A piece of plastic the size of your pinky shouldn’t end up in your heart—but that’s exactly what’s happening with the Bard PowerPort catheter. Patients trusted it to deliver medication. Instead, it cracked, fractured, and in some cases, pierced veins and sparked life-threatening infections.
If you're looking for numbers, here’s what to know upfront: projected settlement payouts are already climbing into six-figure territory, with some cases poised to break the million-dollar mark. But it all depends on how badly you were hurt and how well your case is built.
Don’t roll the dice alone. Call (833) 552-7274 today or contact us online—at LitigationConnect, our network of lawyers will match you with someone who knows these lawsuits inside and out. A local attorney will dig into your records and fight for the settlement you deserve.
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What Is the Bard PowerPort Lawsuit About?
The Bard PowerPort wasn’t supposed to cause life-threatening injuries. It was built to make patients’ lives easier—especially those needing frequent IV treatments, chemotherapy, or blood draws. Instead, it’s now the center of a growing mountain of lawsuits, and for good reason.
Here’s the problem: these devices are fracturing inside people’s bodies. The catheter—the flexible tube that carries medication or fluids—has been reported to break apart, puncture blood vessels, and migrate into the heart or lungs. Some patients ended up in emergency surgery. Others never walked out of the hospital. And for every severe case, there are dozens more with infections, clots, and permanent damage.
The lawsuits point to design and material failures. Bard, the device manufacturer, used a polyurethane mix reinforced with barium sulfate to make the catheter visible under X-ray. But that same formula appears to weaken the structural integrity over time. Plaintiffs allege the material breaks down inside the body, especially when exposed to pressure or movement.
And it doesn’t stop with poor design. The legal complaints also allege:
- Bard knew about the device’s problems years ago but didn’t pull it off the market.
- The company failed to warn doctors and patients about risks—even after receiving reports of injuries.
- Some internal documents suggest Bard downplayed complications to protect its sales.
This kind of negligence isn’t just frowned upon—it raises serious legal issues. The lawsuits fall under product liability law, particularly under theories of design defect, failure to warn, and negligence. Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-681, where the MDL is based, plaintiffs can sue if a product’s defective condition causes injury during normal use.
That’s why these cases are being heard together in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. It’s not a class action—each plaintiff has their own claim—but it’s all under one judge to speed up the legal process and push toward possible settlements or verdicts.
What’s the Estimated Settlement Amount?
Now to the question everyone’s actually asking: what’s the payout look like?
Let’s get one thing straight—there’s no official number yet. Bard hasn’t cut any checks. No global settlement has been announced. But the lawsuits aren’t filed blindly. Lawyers use previous device cases, injury severity, and legal risk to estimate what a case might be worth.
So far, those projections are lining up into three rough tiers:
- $10,000 to $50,000 – These are likely for cases with minor injuries, little to no medical intervention, and quick recovery. If the catheter cracked but didn’t lead to lasting damage, the payout stays small.
- $150,000 to $300,000 – This middle tier fits the bulk of claims. Someone suffered infection, blood clot, or moderate complications. Treatment required hospitalization. Medical bills stacked up. Maybe they missed work. It didn’t ruin their life, but it left a scar—literally or financially.
- $500,000+ – These are the catastrophic outcomes: permanent injuries, emergency surgeries, cardiac trauma, long-term disability, or wrongful death. A high six-figure settlement is possible if a lawyer proves both the severity of harm and that Bard’s actions showed serious disregard for patient safety.
Some estimates go even higher. A few legal analysts suggest individual cases could break $1 million if they involve egregious injury or Bard’s internal documents show reckless behavior.
What Factors Affect How Much You Could Get?
Severity of Injury
Nothing moves the needle faster than the damage done. Surface-level complications won’t carry the same weight as permanent nerve injury or internal bleeding. If the PowerPort fractured and sent a catheter fragment into your heart, you’re in a very different category than someone with mild swelling or bruising.
- A bloodstream infection that required hospitalization? That counts.
- A pulmonary embolism from a dislodged catheter tip? Even more so.
- An implanted device that broke and needed emergency removal? That’s when numbers start rising.
Pain alone doesn’t drive value—the physical outcome does.
Medical Expenses
Every scan, test, prescription, and hospital stay adds weight to your claim. These are hard numbers—easy for attorneys to tally and harder for the defense to dismiss.
This includes:
- Emergency room bills
- In-patient treatment
- Surgical removal of the device
- Follow-up appointments
- Medications related to infection or pain management
In Arizona, A.R.S. § 12-565 supports recovery for medical expenses in product liability actions, including current and future costs reasonably related to the defective product.
Lost Wages
Time off work matters. If you missed paychecks recovering from surgery, that’s compensable. If your injury forced you into a different job—or kept you from returning to work at all—your lawyer will argue for future wage loss too.
- Document every hour missed
- Use pay stubs to calculate loss
- Employer statements help establish your normal duties and any modifications post-injury
Wage loss must be proven, not assumed. No evidence? No payout.
Pain and Suffering
Here’s where things get subjective. Jurors don’t see your pain. They see what you (or your lawyer) can prove. Diaries, therapist notes, family testimony—all of it paints the picture. But this category still gets scrutiny, especially if your physical injuries were minimal.
- Chronic pain
- Emotional distress from living with a broken medical device
- Anxiety around future medical treatment
- Lifestyle changes—anything you used to do but physically can’t now
Arizona law doesn’t cap pain and suffering damages in product liability suits, giving plaintiffs room to argue for higher non-economic compensation.
Punitive Damages
These don’t compensate; they punish. If Bard knew the device posed risks and put it on the market anyway, a court might award extra damages to send a message. But the bar is high.
You’ll need evidence of:
- Internal memos downplaying complaints
- Failure to warn regulators or doctors
- Delayed recalls despite known design issues
Under A.R.S. § 12-689, punitive damages are allowed when a manufacturer’s conduct shows conscious disregard for a known risk. But Arizona also has specific defenses for FDA-approved products—so don’t assume they’re on the table unless serious misconduct surfaces.
What’s the Status of the Bard Port Catheter Lawsuit Right Now?
The Bard PowerPort litigation is centralized in Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) No. 3081, located in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. MDL doesn’t mean class action—it means similar cases get bundled for efficiency, especially during the early stages: discovery, motions, and pretrial proceedings. Each plaintiff keeps their own claim, but the groundwork happens in one place, under one judge.
As of early 2025, more than 1,100 cases are active in the MDL. That number’s still climbing. New plaintiffs keep filing, especially as more people realize their infections, blood clots, or surgical complications trace back to a Bard implant.
Right now, the court is still in the early procedural trenches:
- Discovery: Lawyers for both sides are swapping documents, emails, design specs, and medical data. This is where internal corporate communications start seeing the light of day.
- Motions: Both sides try to knock out claims or strike damaging evidence before trial. These legal chess moves shape the rest of the process.
- Bellwether selection: A few representative cases will go to trial first. These aren’t random—they’re picked to reflect the range of injuries and legal theories. The results help both sides gauge risk and push toward global resolution.
No trial dates have been set yet, but the process is moving. Once those bellwether cases hit a courtroom—and juries start issuing verdicts—that’s when pressure ramps up on Bard to settle.
What Should You Do If You Think You Have a Case?
If a Bard PowerPort device left you with complications, don’t wait for the system to come knocking. Take action—and make it count.
1. Get Your Medical Records (All of Them)
Start with documentation. You’ll need more than just a hospital bill.
Request:
- Surgical reports
- Device implantation and removal records
- Radiology/imaging scans (especially showing catheter fractures or migration)
- Lab results linked to infections or blood clots
- Hospital discharge summaries
Tip: Go straight to the hospital’s medical records department. Don’t rely on your doctor’s office to forward them. You need direct access.
2. Talk to the Right Lawyer
Not all attorneys are built for this kind of fight. Look for one who:
- Handles product liability cases (not traffic tickets or divorces)
- Has experience in multidistrict litigation (MDL)
- Is already involved in the Bard PowerPort lawsuits
They’ll know what evidence moves the needle and how to get your case into the MDL if needed.
3. Know Your Deadline
Every state sets its own statute of limitations. In Arizona, under A.R.S. § 12-551, you typically have two years from the date you knew or should have known the device caused your injury.
But don’t count on exceptions. Once the deadline passes, you lose your right to sue—regardless of how strong your case is.
4. Preserve Every Piece of Evidence
Keep everything. This includes:
- Used medical devices, if removed (ask the hospital if they retained it)
- Prescription bottles or medical packaging
- Hospital wristbands
- Emails or voicemails from doctors or insurers
- Journal entries or notes documenting symptoms, pain levels, or emotional impact
Your lawyer needs proof, not just your word.
5. Don’t Rush a Settlement
Quick cash offers show up early in big litigation. Some third-party companies buy claims for pennies on the dollar. They bank on you being desperate.
Don’t fall for it. Those checks won’t come close to what your case might be worth if it lands in the right tier. Never sign anything without your lawyer reviewing it first.
Don’t Let a Broken Device Break Your Future
Bard gambled with people’s health. Now they’re facing the legal fallout—and you don’t have to face it alone. If a PowerPort injured you, the system won’t fix itself. You have to push back.
Call (833) 552-7274 today or contact us online. At LitigationConnect, our network of lawyers will connect you with someone who knows how to take on corporate medical giants and fight for real compensation.