Settlement trend in Prolonged Mesh Injury Cases

Settlement trend in Prolonged Mesh Injury Cases

Plaintiffs who file a mesh lawsuit allege that mesh manufacturers had a legal duty to ensure the safety and effectiveness of their pelvic mesh products but instead provided patients with false and misleading information about the product’s effectiveness and safety. Such is evident from the far ongoing, transvaginal mesh injury litigation, involving filing of numerous cases throughout the United States and which eventually is accelerating towards settlement. In re Boston Sci. Corp., MDL No. 2326, Civil Action No. 2:14-cv-00880, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29546. For instance, the Judy Conlin facts indicate mesh products from Boston Scientific and Ethicon implanted to treat prolapse and incontinence in July 2011, thus leaving her to face complications and severe injuries.

John Goodwin, the U.S. District Judge, who is looking over all such U.S. Federal vaginal mesh lawsuit appointed a Special Master (Ellen Reisman) to initiate settlement between the women and the company C.R. Bard Inc. In Re C. R. Bard, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2187 (Feb. 12, 2015).  Approximately there are more than 75,000 lawsuits relating to product liability and personal injury with respect to the vaginal mesh claims, also referred to as the bladder sling or pelvic mesh [which is a product (medical tool) commonly implanted into the vaginal area to prevent POP i.e. pelvic organ prolapse].

There had been favorable verdicts to these injury claims in the past. Likewise it is to be noticed that first federal lawsuit against mesh device maker C.R. Bard, Inc. went to trial in July 2013; where the jury came up with a verdict of $ 2 million against Bard to which Bard appealed but eventually the case summed up at settlement. Cisson et al v. C.R. Bard, Inc., No. 2:2011cv00195 – Document 243 (S.D.W. Va. 2013) . Not much later, again in May 1, 2014, American Medical Systems Inc. (AMS), another company facing lawsuits over its transvaginal mesh products, settled with an unknown number of plaintiffs for about $1.6 billion. Similarly, Bellwether Inc. entered to multi-million settlement claim in favor of plaintiff.

The major concern is about the constant number of increasing mesh lawsuits. According to a report dated November 17, 2014 of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, Judge Joseph Goodwin is currently overseeing approximately 10,000 lawsuits against C.R. Bard; 18,000 lawsuits against American Medical Systems; 14,000 against Boston Scientific; 22,000 against Ethicon; 1,700 lawsuits against Coloplast; 250 lawsuits against Cook Medical; and 70 lawsuits against Neomedic. This draws an attention towards both the areas of medicine and health as well as their laws to check such issues in all possible ways.