Lampton v. C. R. Bard

Opinion

ORDER

Pending before the Court is Defendants C.R. Bard, Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc.'s (collectively "Bard") motion to exclude or limit the opinions and testimony of Dr. John F. LaDisa, Jr. Doc. 84. For the reasons described, Bard's motion is [*2]  granted in part and denied in part.

I. Background

Plaintiff Melvin Lampton brings this product liability action for injuries he suffered as a result of complications allegedly caused by a Bard Meridian inferior vena cava (IVC) Filter. The Filter is a medical device consisting of two tiers of struts that make up its arms and legs. When the Filter is properly placed within the IVC, the arms and legs and anchor onto the walls of the vein. The struts catch or break up blood clots that are traveling up from the legs and prevent them from reaching the heart and lungs.

On October 29, 2012, Lampton's doctor implanted the Filter after Lampton presented to the hospital with pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in his lower right extremity. DVT occurs when blood clots form in a deep vein, usually in the legs, causing pain and swelling. About seven months after the implantation, on June 30, 2013, Lampton returned to the hospital with leg and back pain. Deposition of Melvin Lampton, 181:21-23. A CT scan revealed that the Filter was well-positioned in his IVC, but also showed extensive iliocaval thrombosis with clot extension above the renal veins. Doc. 107-1, p. 4; Expert Report of Dr. [*3]  Gurvan Blackman, p. 12.¹ Lampton contends the Meridian Filter caused his thrombosis, and he brought suit against Bard, the maker of the Meridian Filter, alleging design defect, failure to warn, and other claims. Doc. 1.

Lampton's case was transferred to the Court after proceedings in a Multi-District Litigation (MDL). Doc. 3. During the MDL, the plaintiffs designated numerous general experts. After transfer, Lampton designated Dr. John F. LaDisa, Jr., a biomedical engineer, as a case specific expert. Doc. 54-4. Dr. LaDisa is a postdoctoral researcher and Associate Professor within the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Expert Report of Dr. John F. LaDisa, Jr., p. 1 (hereinafter LaDisa Rep.). He worked as a cooperative education student in Quality Assurance and Research & Development at Boston Scientific Corporation, and took courses in Biodesign and Innovation while studying medical device design innovation at Stanford University. Id. His current work involves developing and testing next-generation medical devices, performing computational modeling of these devices, analyzing the impact of medical devices on local vasculature [*4]  through histology, and teaching students about the methods and best practices applied for these purposes. Id. In his report, Dr. LaDisa states:

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