Bard PowerPort lawsuit

The docket record

Full docket title: IN RE: Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation. Programmatic record page: MDL 3081.

Where it stands

The litigation is centralized as MDL No. 3081 before Judge David G. Campbell in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. As of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's report dated September 1, 2026, 3,734 actions are pending in the MDL (3,980 actions have been filed or transferred in total). The first bellwether trial, Cook v. Becton, Dickinson and Co. (an infection case), concluded in early May 2026 with a defense verdict on failure-to-warn and consumer-fraud claims and a hung jury on the design-defect claim. A second bellwether, Divelbliss, the first catheter-fracture case to reach a jury in this MDL, was scheduled to begin August 18, 2026. No PowerPort has been recalled for the fracture, migration, or infection issues at the center of the litigation, and no global settlement has been announced.

Sources: Pending MDL Dockets by District (report dated September 1… · Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) homepage · MAUDE Adverse Event Report: C.R. Bard, Inc. PowerPort Duo… · Bard PowerPort Catheter Lawsuit: September 2026 Updates; full list at the end of this page.

What the lawsuits are about

The Bard PowerPort is an implantable port catheter placed under the skin, usually in the chest, to give repeated intravenous access for chemotherapy and other long-term IV treatment without a new needle stick each time. The catheter tubing on several PowerPort models is made from a polyurethane material Bard calls ChronoFlex AL, compounded with barium sulfate to make it visible on X-ray. The master complaint in the MDL alleges the barium sulfate concentration and manufacturing process leave the catheter prone to degrading, cracking, and fracturing inside the body over time, and that fragments or a cracked catheter surface can migrate through the bloodstream, lodge in the heart or lungs, or harbor bacteria that cause infection. Plaintiffs allege Bard knew of this failure mode and did not adequately warn patients or physicians.

Lawsuits against Bard and its parent Becton, Dickinson and Company over PowerPort injuries were filed in federal courts around the country starting in 2023. On August 8, 2023, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized these cases as MDL No. 3081, In re: Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation, transferring them to the District of Arizona before Judge David G. Campbell for coordinated pretrial proceedings. Judge Campbell entered orders establishing a master complaint and short-form complaint process so plaintiffs could file directly into the MDL, along with a plaintiff fact sheet process for gathering each claimant's implant and injury history.

As of September 2026 the MDL is in its bellwether phase, in which a small number of representative cases are tried to help both sides value the broader inventory. Six primary bellwether cases plus an alternate were selected across the litigation's main injury categories: infection, thrombosis, and fracture. The first bellwether, Cook v. Becton, Dickinson and Co. (an infection case), was tried in April and early May 2026 and ended in a split verdict, a defense win on failure-to-warn and consumer-fraud theories with the design-defect claim undecided by a hung jury. The Divelbliss case, the first fracture-theory case to go to trial in this MDL, was scheduled for August 18, 2026, with additional bellwether trials set into early 2027. No global settlement has been reached; case counts continue to grow each month as new PowerPort suits are filed or transferred into the MDL.

Injuries named in the filings

• Catheter fracture (the catheter tubing cracks or breaks, with fragments able to travel through the bloodstream)
• Cardiac tamponade or other injury from a migrated catheter fragment lodging in the heart or vessels
• Bloodstream infection or sepsis originating at the port or catheter
• Deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (blood clot forming around the device)
• Device migration or extrusion from the original implant site, and difficult or surgical device removal

Principal defendants: C. R. Bard, Inc.; Bard Access Systems, Inc.; Becton, Dickinson and Company.

Sources: Pending MDL Dockets by District (report dated September 1… · Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) homepage · MAUDE Adverse Event Report: C.R. Bard, Inc. PowerPort Duo… · Bard PowerPort Catheter Lawsuit: September 2026 Updates; full list at the end of this page.

Who the filings say qualifies

Eligibility criteria as summarized by plaintiff-side sources describing the MDL's short-form complaint and plaintiff fact sheet process; the underlying court orders were not independently retrievable at the time of writing (see research_notes).

• A Bard PowerPort (or related ChronoFlex-catheter port such as PowerPort Duo, isp, slim, or M.R.I.) was implanted, generally on or after January 1, 2000
• The device caused, or is alleged to have caused, a qualifying injury: catheter fracture, migration, infection/sepsis, or a blood clot (DVT/pulmonary embolism) associated with the port
• The device was surgically removed, removal was attempted, it was replaced, or it remains implanted and cannot safely be removed
• The claim is filed within the applicable state statute of limitations, which varies by state and by the date the injury was or should have been discovered

Source: Drugwatch, Bard PowerPort Catheter Lawsuit (as summarized by plaintiff-side sources).

These are the criteria in the public record, not a promise about any individual case. A law firm evaluates each case on its own facts, and limitations periods vary by state.

Key dates

1. August 8, 2023JPML issues a transfer order centralizing federal Bard PowerPort lawsuits as MDL No. 3081 in the District of Arizona before Judge David G. Campbell. source
2. November 16, 2023Judge Campbell holds a status conference and enters orders establishing the master complaint and short-form complaint process for the MDL. source
3. April 21, 2026First bellwether trial, Cook v. Becton, Dickinson and Co. (infection case), begins. source
4. May 8, 2026Jury returns a split verdict in Cook v. Becton, Dickinson and Co.: defense verdict on failure-to-warn, failure-to-instruct, and consumer-fraud claims; hung jury on the design-defect claim. source
5. July 1, 2026Court directs the parties into formal settlement discussions, according to litigation trackers; no global settlement has resulted as of this writing. source
6. August 18, 2026Second bellwether trial, Divelbliss, the first catheter-fracture case to reach a jury in the MDL, is scheduled to begin. source
7. September 1, 2026JPML pending-MDL report lists 3,734 actions pending and 3,980 total actions filed or transferred in MDL 3081. source

Questions people ask

Sources: Pending MDL Dockets by District (report dated September 1… · Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) homepage · MAUDE Adverse Event Report: C.R. Bard, Inc. PowerPort Duo… · Bard PowerPort Catheter Lawsuit: September 2026 Updates; full list at the end of this page.

Track this docket

We re-read the JPML report on the first business day of each month. Get an email when this record changes: case count, status, or a settlement development.

Sources

1. U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, “Pending MDL Dockets by Actions Pending,” monthly reports January 2, 2024 to September 1, 2026. Transferee court: District of Arizona, David G. Campbell.
2. Pending MDL Dockets by District (report dated September 1, 2026), U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Accessed September 3, 2026.
3. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) homepage, U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Accessed September 3, 2026.
4. MAUDE Adverse Event Report: C.R. Bard, Inc. PowerPort Duo M.R.I. Implantable Port, ChronoFlex Dual-Lumen, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (MAUDE database). Accessed September 3, 2026.
5. Bard PowerPort Catheter Lawsuit: September 2026 Updates, Drugwatch (as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
6. Bard PowerPort Bellwether Trial Tracker, MDL-3081, MDL Update (as summarized by plaintiff-side/litigation-tracking sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
7. Bard PowerPort Lawsuit, MDL-3081 overview, MDL Update (as summarized by plaintiff-side/litigation-tracking sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
8. 2026 Bard PowerPort Lawsuit Update: What the First Bellwether Verdict Means for You, Cory Watson Attorneys (as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
9. Bard PowerPort Litigation (MDL 3081): Case Analysis, Tavrn (litigation-analytics blog, as summarized by plaintiff-side/litigation-tracking sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
10. In re: Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3081, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP (plaintiff law firm, as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.
11. Bard PowerPort Lawsuit 2026: Do You Qualify? MDL 3081, Open Class Actions (as summarized by plaintiff-side sources). Accessed September 3, 2026.

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