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

MDL 3081 (In re: Bard PowerPort) is centralized in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona under Chief Judge David G. Campbell. Texas plaintiffs with cases filed in the Northern (Dallas/Fort Worth), Southern (Houston), Western (Austin/San Antonio), or Eastern (Tyler) Districts of Texas are transferred to Phoenix for coordinated pretrial proceedings. Texas ranks among the top three states for total MDL filings given its large cancer survivor population.

Texas applies a 2-year statute of limitations for personal injury and product liability claims under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003. The discovery rule tolls the limitations period in latent-injury device cases; the clock begins when the plaintiff first knew or should have known of the injury caused by the PowerPort catheter fracture. Texas courts have applied the discovery rule favorably in medical device litigation involving asymptomatic catheter degradation.

Texas hosts two NCI-Designated Cancer Centers — MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston) and Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (Dallas) — as well as an expansive network of community oncology practices affiliated with Baylor Scott & White, HCA Healthcare, and Texas Oncology. MD Anderson’s chemotherapy volume makes it one of the highest-volume PowerPort implantation sites nationally, and its patient population is well-represented in MDL 3081 filings.

Primary federal venues for Texas PowerPort plaintiffs are the S.D. Tex. (Houston) and N.D. Tex. (Dallas), both active conduits to MDL 3081. Becton, Dickinson and Company maintains significant Texas operations including medical-device sales territory management from its Dallas-area offices. BD’s Bard Medical subsidiary has longstanding supply relationships with major Texas health systems, supporting general and specific personal jurisdiction claims in Texas state and federal courts.