Chemo Port Lawsuit 2026: Bard PowerPort MDL & Defective Port-A-Catheter Claims

If a Port-A-Catheter caused harm to you or someone you love, this page is for you. You may have already gone through the worst of it. The catheter broke, fragments showed up on imaging, you ended up back in the hospital with sepsis, or you watched a family member suffer through complications they should never have had to face. The lawsuits filed since 2022 lay out a specific story about why this happened, and you may have a right to compensation.

This page covers the current state of the Port-A-Catheter lawsuits as of May 2026, who qualifies to file, how the process works, and what to expect. You can start a free, confidential case review at any point on this page. There is no upfront cost, no obligation, and you pay nothing unless your case wins. Start your free case review here.

What's Happening With the Chemo Port Lawsuits

On August 8, 2023, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued an order consolidating federal Bard PowerPort cases into a single MDL pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The case is formally titled In re: Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3081, before Judge David G. Campbell.

As of May 2026, the MDL covers over 5,000 individual federal cases and continues to grow each month as more patients identify their complications as catheter-related. The plaintiff steering committee, leadership counsel, and bellwether trial schedule have all been set. The MDL is now in active discovery and bellwether trial preparation.

The cases primarily target the Bard PowerPort, PowerPort ClearVUE, and related implantable vascular access devices manufactured by Bard Access Systems, a subsidiary of Becton Dickinson (BD). Similar litigation exists separately against other port-catheter manufacturers including Smiths Medical and Norfolk Medical, though the largest concentration of cases is in the Bard MDL. Patients with any of these brands of port catheters can submit a free, confidential case review.

Each family in the MDL files an individual case with its own facts. The MDL coordinates pretrial work, including discovery, depositions of Bard executives and engineers, expert testimony on device design, and FDA correspondence document production. Eventually, cases either settle or are remanded to their home districts for trial. If you suspect a defective port caused harm to you or a loved one, you can request a free case review in about two minutes.

Who Qualifies to File a Chemo Port Lawsuit Claim

Eligibility is reviewed individually by the legal team. The general criteria for joining the federal MDL or a related state action are below. If most of these apply to you or a loved one, you should request a free case review.

The exclusion of California, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Illinois does not mean patients in those states cannot pursue a claim. It means we cannot facilitate the intake from those states due to state bar advertising rules. Patients in those states should consult a licensed attorney directly. The MDL is in Arizona, but the referral arrangement we use is not active for those four states.

What the Chemo Port Lawsuits Allege

The complaints in MDL 3081 make a number of specific allegations against Bard. None of these have been proven at trial. The descriptions below come from publicly filed court documents and are presented as alleged conduct, not established fact. Bard denies wrongdoing.

According to the complaints, plaintiffs claim that Bard:

• Designed the catheter portion using a polyurethane resin (Chronoflex AL with 5% barium sulfate) that allegedly degrades inside the body and is prone to fracture
• Knew about a higher-than-expected rate of catheter failures and fractures based on internal testing and post-market surveillance data, but did not adequately warn physicians or patients
• Failed to properly investigate or report adverse events to the FDA in a timely manner
• Continued marketing the device as safe and effective for long-term implantation despite alleged knowledge of design problems
• Did not issue a sufficient or timely recall when the failure pattern became apparent
• Did not adequately train physicians or hospitals on how to monitor for catheter degradation

The legal causes of action being asserted include negligence, strict product liability, design defect, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment, and various state consumer protection law claims. Wrongful death and survival actions are recognized for cases involving deceased patients. Surviving family members can start a free case review here.

Who Got Hurt: Real Chemo Port Patient Scenarios

The patients in MDL 3081 range from chemotherapy patients to people with chronic conditions requiring long-term IV access. The complications described in the cases share a similar pattern: a device that worked initially, then failed in ways patients and even their treating physicians often did not immediately recognize as catheter-related.

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, the legal team will treat what you tell them as confidential. Start your free case review here — the intake takes about two minutes.

Chemo Port Symptoms & Complications Linked to Defective Devices

If you have had a Port-A-Catheter and any of the following developed during or after implantation, the legal team should review your case. None of these alone confirm a catheter defect, but they are the complications most commonly cited in the MDL filings:

If a treating physician has identified the catheter, fragments, or any complication on imaging or in surgical reports, that documentation is usually enough to start a case. You typically do not need the device itself; the medical records are what matter. Submit your case for review here.

How the Chemo Port Lawsuit Process Works

The intake process is designed to be quick, confidential, and low-pressure. There is no obligation at any step.

You are not committed to anything by submitting the intake. The legal team will discuss the facts with you, give you their assessment of whether the case fits the MDL criteria, and answer questions about timelines and what to expect. If they accept the case, you sign a contingency-fee agreement that means they only get paid if there is a recovery for you or your family.

Chemo Port Lawsuit Deadlines: Statute of Limitations by State

Statute of limitations rules for product liability claims vary widely from state to state. Most range from one to six years from the date of injury or the date the injury was reasonably discoverable. The discovery rule is important here because many port catheter complications develop or are diagnosed long after the device was placed.

For deceased patients, wrongful-death and survival action deadlines may run from the date of death rather than the original implant. The legal team will explain which rule applies during the case review — you can request that review here.

What Happens to the Information You Share

The intake form goes directly to a partnered legal lead service that connects patients and families with the law firms participating in MDL 3081 and related state actions. We do not store the answers on FileYourClaim.co. The legal team contacts you using the phone number and email you provide. By submitting the form you consent to be contacted as described in the form's TCPA disclosure (you will see this language before you submit). You can revoke consent at any time.

The information you share with the legal team after the callback is protected by attorney work-product confidentiality, even if you do not ultimately retain them. You can read more in our privacy policy.

About MDL 3081: The Federal Chemo Port Lawsuit

Multidistrict litigation, or MDL, is a procedural mechanism the federal court system uses when many people across the country file similar lawsuits against the same defendant. Rather than have thousands of duplicative cases tried in different courts, the cases are consolidated for pretrial proceedings (discovery, motions, expert testimony) before a single federal judge. This makes the litigation more efficient, but each case keeps its own facts and is settled or tried individually.

MDL 3081 was created on August 8, 2023 by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The transferee court is the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Judge David G. Campbell presides. Discovery is well underway, and bellwether trials, which test a small sample of cases as predictors of likely outcomes, are scheduled in 2026.

Bard has filed motions challenging the legal theories in some of the complaints, and discovery has surfaced internal Bard documents that plaintiffs cite as evidence of alleged knowledge of defects. As of May 2026, no global settlement has been announced, but mass tort cases of this size and scope frequently resolve through negotiated settlement programs once bellwether outcomes establish a value range.

Chemo Port Lawsuit FAQ