AngioDynamics, Inc., and Navilyst Medical, Inc., Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation

Treatments like chemotherapy require the use of port catheters. These devices provide patients with access to their veins. AngioDynamics is one brand of port catheters; about this product, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gotten hundreds of failure reports. Numerous lawsuits have been filed, each alleging that the AngioDynamics’ and its subsidiary Navilyst Medical’s port catheters caused serious injuries. In October 2024, these lawsuits were consolidated into federal multidistrict litigation. If you were injured or a loved one died because of a failing AngioDynamic port catheter, call the seasoned Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group to determine whether you have a viable claim for compensation. Billions have been recovered in litigation with which we’ve been involved.

The AngioDynamic lawsuits allege that an excess of barium sulfate, intended to strengthen the port catheter, caused cracking, pitting, and degradation to the devices. This degradation made the port catheters more likely to fracture, and in turn, the fracturing led to injuries to organs and blood vessels or caused blood clots. Events arising from fracturing have included the migration of foreign objects within the patient’s body, infections, pulmonary embolism, mechanical failures, and parts getting embedded in tissue. Significant complications can occur as a result of these events including bleeding and heart rhythm difficulties. Sometimes additional surgeries are required. These procedures can be quite expensive and painful, resulting in wage loss, hefty medical bills, the need for replacement services, and a great deal of suffering.

Nineteen lawsuits were centralized in Southern California, where five of them were pending, because of common factual questions about the barium sulfate concentration that led to degradation of the material in the port catheters. It was found that centralization would allow for more efficient and consistent resolution. As of July 1, 2025, 401 claims are pending in the AngioDynamics port catheter litigation (MDL 3125).

If you were injured by an AngioDynamic port catheter that fractured as a result of excessive barium sulfate concentration, you may require substantial medical diagnosis, care, and treatment. You should consult with our Chicago-based attorneys to determine whether you can bring a product liability lawsuit for compensation to cover the losses you’ve suffered as a result of the AngioDynamic port catheter.

Product liability lawsuits allege that harm was caused by a defective product. Products can be defective in three different ways: in terms of their design, marketing or manufacturing. Design defects are foundational flaws in the blueprint or specifications for a product whereby the design makes every unit of that product dangerous. Our lawyers must establish that there was a design defect with the help of expert testimony and also establish a theory of liability. Theories of liability that may be pertinent include strict liability, negligence, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and statutory violations.

If we are able to establish liability for a design defect, we may be able to obtain both economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages spring from tangible losses you suffered as a result of the degraded port catheter such as wage loss, medical bills, replacement services, and out-of-pocket costs.

Noneconomic damages, meanwhile, provide compensation for intangible but sufficiently certain losses such as lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and emotional anguish. For example, if pieces of a port catheter migrate and, as they often do, travel with blood flow toward the heart, the rube may irritate the heart such that it beats irregularly and such that the sharp edge may perforate the heart wall. In addition, the broken part of the port may bring bacteria into the blood stream resulting in sepsis. An emergency surgery or endovascular retrieval and treatments for the infection may be necessary. Compensation for the costs of this retrieval and any time you have to take off work or hire someone else to do basic tasks around the house because you cannot do them yourself may be recovered in a successful lawsuit.

Your injuries by an AngioDynamics port catheter may have caused significant economic and noneconomic losses. If so, you should call the experienced Chicago-based product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group to determine whether you can sue for compensation to cover those losses. Complete our online form or call us at 312.462.1700.