About The Case

Wagstaff & Cartmell attorney Brandon D. Henry, together with Michael A. Sacchet of Ciresi Conlin, LLP, and Thomas W. Pirtle of Laminack Pirtle Martines, obtained a $40 million verdict on behalf of Kimberly Divelbliss in the second bellwether trial in the Bard Implanted Port Catheter MDL, pending before the Honorable David G. Campbell in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Divelbliss was implanted with a Bard PowerPort with a Groshong silicone catheter, which fractured two years later, sending a fragment into her heart and requiring removal surgery. The injury led to cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks, and additional cardiac procedures and medication. After a three-week trial, the nine-person jury found unanimously in favor of Divelbliss on her strict liability and negligent design defect claims and her strict liability and negligent failure to warn claims, awarding $40 million in compensatory damages.