Bard PowerPort claims: who can file and what to do in Georgia

MDL 3081 (In re: Bard PowerPort) is administered by Chief Judge David G. Campbell in the District of Arizona. Georgia cases from the Northern District (Atlanta), Middle District (Macon/Columbus), and Southern District (Savannah/Augusta) of Georgia are transferred to D. Ariz. for consolidated pretrial proceedings. Atlanta’s role as a regional cancer treatment hub for the southeastern United States has produced a meaningful share of MDL 3081 filings from Georgia plaintiffs.

Georgia applies a 2-year statute of limitations for personal injury and product liability claims under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Georgia’s discovery rule tolls the statute in cases involving latent injury, beginning the clock when the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and its causal connection to the PowerPort device. Georgia does not currently apply a general products liability statute of repose, giving plaintiffs flexibility in older implant cases.

Georgia’s cancer treatment network includes Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University (Atlanta — NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center), Piedmont Atlanta’s cancer program, Northside Hospital Cancer Institute, and Augusta University’s Georgia Cancer Center. Winship and Northside Hospital are among the highest-volume oncology programs in the Southeast, and both institutions have significant PowerPort utilization in their chemotherapy-dependent patient populations.

The primary federal venue for Georgia PowerPort plaintiffs is the N.D. Ga. (Atlanta Division), one of the busiest medical device litigation districts in the Southeast. Cases are transferred from N.D. Ga. to MDL 3081 in Phoenix. BD’s Bard Medical subsidiary has well-established distribution and sales relationships with Georgia’s major health systems, including Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Health, and Northside Hospital Group, supporting personal jurisdiction in Georgia state and federal courts.