Lawsuit Information Center
Currently, thousands of hernia mesh lawsuits are pending in courts across the country. Our hernia mesh lawyers are handling these cases in all 50 states. This page:
- Discusses this litigation
- Provides the latest October 2024 updates and the latest hernia mesh BardMDL-2846 news 0n the settlement talks
- Offers projected average settlement amounts for a hernia mesh lawsuit
The plaintiffs in these lawsuits are individuals with defective hernia mesh implanted during surgery, causing them to suffer severe post-surgical complications and injuries.
The hernia mesh lawsuits involve multiple hernia mesh products made by four medical device companies who are now defendants in the litigation: Ethicon (a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary that has reached a settlement in most of its lawsuits), C.R. Bard (now part of Beckton Dickinson), Covidien, and Atrium Medical Corp. The alleged defects and the product liability claims asserted against all these defendants are similar enough to talk about them collectively.
Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Updates and News
In the summer of 2024, there was a frustrating lack of information about where this litigation was going and whether a hernia mesh settlement was imminent. As we discuss below, we think the rubber is about to meet the road in the next few weeks.
October 9, 2024 – Frustration with the Lack of Information
Victims are certainly frustrated with the lack of pubic information about the settlement. I hear rumors of a $65,000 average and I hear rumors of a payout period of up to five years. But this is all rumors. More information may come out at a plaintiffs’ meeting in Vegas this week.
I have opened the comments below for people who want to share their thoughts.
October 2, 2024 – Becton Dickinson Announces Settlement
Becton Dickinson, who owns Bard, announced a settlement today to resolve the “vast majority” of hernia mesh lawsuits in the MDL and Rhode Island state court.
So this is the news everyone has been waiting for. More details to follow.
October 1, 2024 – MDL Case Totals
As settlement looms over the Bard MDL, over 100 new cases were added to the MDL over the last month. Another 41 cases were added to the Coviden MDL, bringing the total number of cases in that MDL up to 1,511.
September 26, 2024 – Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Moves Forward
The Covidien hernia mesh litigation, which now has nearly 1,500 lawsuits, continues to progress steadily, with plaintiff attorneys actively deposing key corporate representatives from Covidien/Medtronic. Hernia mesh lawyers are expected to both sides remain deep in the discovery process, as plaintiffs look for more evidence to support their claims.
In contrast to the Covidien MDL’s momentum, the Bard hernia mesh MDL has hit a notable standstill, with plaintiffs feeling in limbo while the legal process drags on. The reality is that a Bard settlement is closer that Covidien. But at least plaintiffs in the Covidien’s litigation can feel progress. Right now, Bard plaintiffs understandably feel like they’re stuck on the side of the road, waiting for a tow. Hopefully, that changes soon and will have settlement progress—or some progress— to report.
September 17, 2024 – Motion to Remand Denied
So Judge Sargus shot down the plaintiffs’ motion for remand we discuss in our September 5 update below.
The judge say there there is a limited stay in place, as outlined in Case Management Orders 52 and 53 (see the July 6 update below) that restricts any motions or remand requests during this period.
Because the motion was filed during the stay, the Court denied the motion without prejudice.
The ruling is not surprising. But it would have been nice to see the Bard’s response to the motion which would have inevitably requirement commentary on the settlement negotiations. Too many people have been in the dark for far too long.
September 10, 2024 – New Covidien Mesh Lawsuit
A man from Florida became one of the most recent plaintiffs to join the class action MDL involving the Covidien hermia mesh implants. According to the Short Form Complaint that was filed directly in the MDL last week, the plaintiff had a Covidien Parietex ProGrip mesh implanted in June 2017. The complaint asserts that problems and complications with that mesh required the plaintiff to undergo corrective surgery.
September 5, 2024 – Frustrated with Settlement and Wanting Remand
One family is sick of waiting Frustrated by the lack of settlement news, the family is asking to leave the MDL and have their cases remanded their case back to the District of Arizona, where it was originally filed. The case has obviously not progressed to resolution, and the plaintiffs, who are dealing with a wrongful death claim arising from catastrophic injuries linked to the Bard Composix Kugel Hernia Patch, have had it with the slow pace of settlement negotiations.
The urgency of this request is heightened by the deteriorating health of plaintiffs who is battling a recurrence of cancer. This plaintiff’s condition underscores the pressing need for timely legal proceedings, as he may not survive long enough to see the claim resolved.
Bigger picture, this family says that the MDL seems to have served its purpose for this case, with no further discovery expected and a fourth bellwether trial having been canceled. Stating the obvious, plaintiffs’ motion points out that negotiations for a global settlement have been protracted and unfruitful.
So the plaintiffs argue that remanding the case would allow them to effectively utilize the general discovery already conducted under the MDL to pursue their case on individual merits in Arizona, aiming for a more direct and expedited resolution.
September 3, 2024 – MDLs Continue to Add Cases
The active hernia mesh MDLs continue to add new cases each month. The Covidien hernia mesh MDL now has 1,472 pending cases and the Bard MDL has just over 24,000.
August 8, 2024 – New Bard Cases Still Being Filed
People keep filing hernia mesh injury cases. In one recent case filed last week in the Bard hernia mesh MDL, a Colorado woman claimed that she suffered injuries from defects in the Bard Ventralex ST Patch. She had the mesh implanted in 2018 during hernia surgery and the complaint alleges that she has had multiple surgical interventions afterward due to complications caused by the mesh. Unfortunately, the Short Form Complaint in this MDL does not provide much information on exactly what the alleged complications were.
August 1, 2024 – Where Is the Bard Settlement?
Mass tort litigation can be goofy. A lot of strange things happen. This litigation and this settlement is just particularly odd.
We now have case management orders for a settlement but no actual settlement? It makes no sense.
My guess – and it is just a guess – it that the negotiating lawyers are telling the judge that we are so close but we still have details to still resolve and the judge is accepting that and holding off on the nuclear option of remanding cases back to local federal courts.
The judge or the lawyer negotiating the settlement should put out a statement to tell victims something.
July 6, 2024 – Latest Update
There were two filings on Friday and each one is a big deal:
- CMO #52: The parties jointly submitted Case Management Order No. 52 for the court’s approval, which put s a limited stay on all cases filed or transferred to this MDL before the date of the order. A stay is a pause. This stay prohibits the parties from taking any discovery, filing motions, or seeking relief, among other actions, except as specified in subsequent orders. Notably, the stay can be lifted for cases where plaintiffs opt out of the Master Settlement Agreement. Upon receiving an opt-out notice, defendants must file an individualized notice to lift the stay in that particular case. The court will not issue an order for each case; the stay will be automatically lifted upon filing the notice by defendants. This order ensures the smooth administration of cases while respecting the terms of the Master Settlement Agreement.
- CMO #53: This proposed order is provide some hoops for plaintiffs who want to opt out of the settlement. They are not as draconian as you see in other mass torts although there may be more to come.
The court quickly approved both orders.
Do either of these lay out the terms of the settlement? No. But they are laying out the rules for opting out of the settlement. Which tells you there is a settlement and a master settlement agreement.
Again, this settlement was pretty close and the details have not leaked out. We will report more when we know more.
July 1, 2024 – Settlement Rumors Equal More Lawsuits
As a Bard hernia mesh settlement is done or close to done (depending on who you talk to), lawyers were hustling to file new lawsuits, presumably to get into the settlement. The number of active cases surged last month from 22,896 in June to 23,641.
In a mature MDL like this, that is an extraordinary number of new lawsuits.
June 27, 2024 – Update (or lack thereof)
The Bard MDL has not had a new entry in nearly a month. Lawsuits continued to be filed against Bard as multiple sources tell me that some firms have settled their caseload. While the parties are reportedly close to a deal for a global settlement, it is not done.
Until there is a hernia mesh settlement, our lawyers are looking to get more cases. If you were injured by a defective hernia mesh implant, call 800-553-5053.
June 19, 2024 – New Study on Robotic Hernia Procedures
A new study recently published in JAMA Surgery found that there may be major problems with robotic hernia repair surgery as compared to traditional methods. The study found that patients who have the robotic surgery are much more likely to have their hernia reoccur within 10 years.
June 13, 2024 – Latest on Bard Settlement
The Bard MDL docket is quiet. There are rumors – good rumors – that some law firms have confidentially settled with Bard. But lips are sealed.
But Judge Sargus has said that absent a global settlement, he will remand the cases back to district courts around the country for trial. The expectation is on or before June 24, the parties will have to report to the judge where they are on settlement. So something should break this month in terms of an announcement as to exactly where we are. (Regular readers of this update know that I have been wrong before when predicting progress.)
June 11, 2024 – New Covidien Symbotex Lawsuit
A new Covidien hernia mesh lawsuit was filed today by a Michigan man in Covidien MDL. The lawsuit contends that Symbotex Composite Mesh her had implanted in 2018 and again in 2021 was defective. The Symbotex has a three-dimensional textile structure that promised to facilitate integration with the body’s tissues while minimizing the risk of complications such as adhesion and infection. His wife is a plaintiff, bringing a loss of consortium claim.
June 3, 2024 – New Bard Lawsuits
The Bard Hernia Mesh class action MDL just continues to grow at a very fast pace. There were 640 new hernia mesh cases were added to the MDL during the month of May. That is an increase over the volume of new cases we saw last month and it brings the total number of pending cases up to 22,896. Lawyers want to get cases filed before any settlement.
The are 1248 Covidien lawsuits pending in the MDL.
May 23, 2024 – Covidien MDL Update
The federal magistrate judge overseeing Covidien MDL is extending the current scheduling order by eight months due to “significant discovery deficiencies.” The judge also denied the plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery and their motion for sanctions.
This slows these cases down even further. Judge Kelley extended the deadline for general corporate discovery to December 9. Key deadlines include May 12, 2025, for identifying plaintiffs for the first two bellwether trials and setting dates for dispositive motions and Daubert challenges. The order of trials and trial dates will be determined after September 26, 2025. It will be hard to pressure Covidien to settlement until there is a solid trial date.
Arguably, a Covidien hernia mesh lawsuit is stronger than a Bard case because the the polyester used in Covidien’s products is even more problematic than the materials used by Bard.
Covidien Plaintiffs claim that polyester incites inflammation and a heightened foreign body response. It is described as being more brittle and significantly more susceptible to fatigue fracture, breakage, fragmentation, and other mechanical failures. Bard’s hernia mesh typically used polypropylene, which, with all of its flaws, does not have the same level of brittleness or susceptibility to mechanical failures as alleged with polyester.
As of May 1, there were 1,081 cases in the Covidien MDL-3029.
When will the Covidien hernia mesh caes settle? Let’s just say that is projected to be after the Bard settlement although there is hope for a domino effect.
May 16, 2024 – Call a Lawyer If You Have a Claim
We are back to taking in hernia mesh cases. But, my goodness, if you have a claim and want to bring it, do it now. You can call us at 800-553-8082 for a free consultation or reach out online. You can call another lawyer. But act now. How much longer will we be taking new cases? I don’t have an exact answer. But not long.
The way this settlement will work is Bard will pick off law firms one-by-one. Bard will likely insist that that the law firm bring no new cases unless the retainer was signed by a certain date. So there will likely be a cutoff date where it is going to be hard to find a lawyer.
May 1, 2024 – New Bard Cases
The Bard hernia mesh class action MDL maintains a remarkably high influx of new cases. In April, 583 fresh cases were incorporated into the Bard hernia mesh MDL-2846. This exceeds the 481 new cases added the previous month, resulting in a total of 22,256 pending cases.
April 11, 2024 – Covidien Schedule
While we wait on a Bard settlement, let’s look at what is on deck in the Covidien MDL:
| Section | Details | New Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| I. GENERAL CORPORATE DISCOVERY DEADLINE | The deadline for completion of general corporate discovery is extended. | December 9, 2024 |
| II. EXPERT DISCOVERY FOR BELLWETHER DISCOVERY POOL PLAINTIFFS | Plaintiffs and Defendants to serve their expert disclosures and reports followed by rebuttal and closure of expert discovery. | Plaintiffs: December 23, 2024 Defendants: February 3, 2025 Rebuttal: March 3, 2025 Closes: May 28, 2025 |
| III. MEDIATION | Deadlines for identifying a mediator and completing mediation are extended. | Identify Mediator: February 10, 2025 Complete Mediation: September 22, 2025 |
| IV. SELECTION OF TRIAL CASES | Deadline for identifying trial cases from the Bellwether Discovery Pool. | May 12, 2025 |
| V. DISPOSITIVE/DAUBERT MOTIONS | Deadlines for filing, opposing, and replying to dispositive and/or Daubert motions in the Trial Cases. | Filing: June 9, 2025 Oppositions: July 14, 2025 Replies: July 28, 2025 |
| VI. MANNER AND ORDER OF TRIAL CASES | Deadline for submission of proposals regarding the manner of trial, order, and timing of the Trial Cases. | Proposal: September 26, 2025 Responses: October 3, 2025 |
April 1, 2024 -New Cases
Another 411 new cases were added to the Bard hernia mesh class action MDL over the last month. That brings the current total of pending cases up to 21,673. This also marks the biggest monthly volume of new cases that we have seen in the Bard MDL in the last 6 months.
March 27, 2024 – Quiet
It is pretty amazing how little interest this litigation is able to drum up. No media stories on the settlement talks. Nothing from anyone on what happened in the settlement negotiations. There are a lot of victim and lawyers in the dark.
March 26, 2024 – Settlement Mediation
Day two of the Bard mediation today. Will the cases settle? I think it is unlikely. The judge will put out a note on the docket (which you can find on PACER) after the mediation today if history is any guide. What the entry says will be an important tea leaf to whether these cases will be settled or remanded for trials across the country.
March 22, 2024 – Loss in LifeCell Lawsuit
One piece of bad news in the hernia mesh litigation on one of the smaller products. A jury in New Jersey today found LifeCell not at fault in a lawsuit brought by a woman from Kentucky, who claimed that the company’s Strattice surgical mesh was poorly designed, leading to the recurrence of a hernia and necessitating surgery. This verdict marks the first victory for the medical device manufacturer in a jurisdiction where at least 93 cases are currently pending, all alleging harm caused by the mesh.
March 19, 2024 – Settlement Is Focus
All the energy in the hernia mesh litigation – even for non-Bard cases – is centered around settlement negotiations set to begin on Monday. Too many victims have waited far too long. Are the parties far apart at this point? No. But even small differences are many millions of dollars.
After all this time, plaintiffs want to get as much as possible. Bard wants to pay as little as possible, and there are no trial dates to put real pressure on them to move off its position. Still, there is a sense Bard wants to move on from this. It has other litigation – the BardPowerPort litigation is getting in full swing – to manage. If these cases get remanded, Bard’s legal costs will escalate quickly. Hopefully, that realization forces Bard to offer reasonable settlement amounts to resolve these lawsuits.
March 16, 2024 – Settlement Circle Is Small
Judge Sargus issued an order that establishes the mediation plan and schedule aimed at facilitating settlement in the Bard hernia mesh MDL.
According to the order, an in-person mediation session is slated for March 25 and March 26, 2024. The parties involved will convene under the guidance of Court-Appointed Mediator, John Jackson, with further meetings subject to the mediator’s discretion.
However, if the parties fail to reach a mutually acceptable resolution or extend the deadline for discussions, they must notify the court of an impasse by May 24, 2024. In the event of an impasse, the parties are directed to collaborate on a joint proposal outlining a plan for advancing the litigation, including suggestions for remand. This proposal, or individual submissions if no consensus is reached, must be submitted by June 24, 2024. The court may then set a schedule for subsequent briefing and/or argument on the proposals.
These settlement negotiations that impacts thousands of plaintiffs do not require a big conference room like you might think. The group is small. Plaintiff will send just three lawyers on their negotiation committee.
March 1, 2024 – Covidien MDL
Judge Saris, the Covidien MDL judge, has ordered the company to release a significant number of complaint files in the pretrial discovery process. These documents detail the issues faced by individuals following the use of hernia repair products distributed in the last decade.
Covidien was instructed to submit an extensive collection of hernia mesh complaint files without redactions to speed up the production process. As it should, this order bars plaintiffs from using any personal data from the complaint files unless they demonstrate a valid reason and obtain court or defendant approval.
It has been slow but this litigation is starting to move forward. Key deadlines have been set, including October 14, 2024, for submitting dispositive or Daubert motions, and November 22, 2024, for responses to these motions. So we are looking at a bellwether trial in 2025.
February 19, 2024 – Settlement Mediation March 3-4
A new mediation scheduling order aims to push the case forward. Scheduled for early March 2024, this mediation hopes to finally resolve this litigation. My fear is that it is similar to previous attempts to reach a global settlement that didn’t lead to a resolution.
My prediction? I don’t have one. But I predict if the cases resolve in March the average settlement hernia mesh settlement will be in the range of $65,000-$70,000 with some victim getting much more and some getting much less based on a points systems that will calculate how much money each plaintiff will receive.
I’ll say this too – if you have case, call a lawyer. Today. I’d like you to contact us but the most important thing is that you contact someone before it is too late.
February 5, 2024 – The Trial Is Off
The judge canceled the trial in Bryan and wants the parties to reach a global settlement. The problem? What new has changed that will lead to a settlement?
February 3, 2024 – Developments in Bryan
The next trial in then the MDL is the Bryan case in April. the plaintiffs’ lawsuit alleges he suffered chronic pain after the 3DMax was implanted in 2012 and underwent a partial explant in 2017 due to returning pain, arguing that the defendants sold the product despite knowing its risks and without adequate warnings.
The court found that the surgeon who implanted the 3DMax did not rely on the defendants’ instructions or materials. Honestly, this is no small problem. The strongest claim in these cases is failure to warn and now that claim is dismissed. The court also dismissed Bryan’s intentional infliction of emotional distress claim for lack of sufficiently outrageous conduct by the defendants and reserved ruling on claims of strict liability, negligence, gross negligence, and punitive damages.
The case is far from over and the injuries this man has endured appear to be significant. But serious injury is not enough to win these cases.
January 31, 2024 – Stinson Appeal Denied
Bard appealed to the trial judge in Stinson with some very weak arguments that just restated its motion for summary judgment. It has more appeals above, of course, but these are very weak arguments that are likely to go nowhere.
January 24, 2024 – Covidien Problems
Covidien has more to worry about than the nearly 900 lawsuits against it in the hernia mesh MDL. The company is faced with a new lawsuit filed by a trust representing Mallinckrodt creditors, stemming from its 2013 separation of the opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt Plc. The suit alleges Covidien unfairly profited billions and fraudulently transferred liabilities to Mallinckrodt, leaving it overwhelmed with debt and opioid-related legal responsibilities.
January 4, 2024 – Plaintiffs’ Want to Push Ball Forward Faster
What would put more pressure on Bard to make a reasonable settlement offer in the hernia mesh lawsuits in 2024? More trials. Plaintiffs keep winning but the spacing of these wins zaps some of the momentum.
The plaintiff’s hernia mesh lawyers have been trying to change this, asking for a new Case Management Order to oversee the future handling of cases and potential remand to state court where we can start trying these cases in multiple jurisdictions. Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that it’s time for an order that sets out a process for remand to ensure plaintiffs, many of whom have been waiting for nearly six years, will get their day in court or reach a fair resolution of their claims.
Their proposed order doesn’t suggest dumping all cases into district courts at once but rather working up cases in large groups at intervals. Once case-specific discovery is done, cases will be remanded back to the original district courts. The first group includes 1,500 cases, about 7.5% of the total filed cases.
The attorneys argue that continuing at the current pace of 1 to 2 trials per year would be impractical, taking thousands of years to try every case. They propose a measured approach to remand, beginning the process now, and organizing it in a logical and efficient manner. This includes selecting cases based on severity of injury, length of time filed, and involvement in bellwether trials. They also suggest multi-plaintiff trials to allocate costs efficiently and avoid duplicate testimony.
Here is where we are after four trials.
| CASE | DATE | RESULT | VENUE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stinson | Oct 2023 | $500,000 | MDL |
| Trevino | Aug 2022 | $4.8 million | Rhode Island |
| Milanesi | April 2022 | $250,000 | MDL |
| Johns | July 2021 | DEFENSE | MDL |
Hopefully, if Bard is not going to come to its senses, we can have four trials a month instead of four trials over two-and-a-half years.
December 5, 2023 – Ethicon Settlement in Georgia
Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon, have reached a settlement in a Georgia multidistrict litigation involving 224 lawsuits.
The settlement agreement was formalized with a joint motion for dismissal of the claims, which was filed by both parties and subsequently granted by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story. Ethicon Inc. issued a statement with the usual blah blah blah about its commitment to patient safety and reminding us all that the settlement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing. They stated that the decision to settle was made to avoid a prolonged legal process.
This settlement follows a previous agreement approximately six months earlier, where the companies had settled with 161 plaintiffs in the same MDL
December 1 2023 – 4th Bellwether Trial Set
The fourth bellwether trial involving Bard is set for April 2024. We had hoped it would be in January… it is in April now.
The plaintiff in this case, Jacob Bryan, underwent a procedure using a 3DMax hernia mesh to repair an inguinal/groin hernia and subsequently suffered complications such as mesh deformation and chronic pain.
Currently, Mr. Bryan is in need of further medical intervention and might require another surgery. Initially chosen by the defendants as a bellwether trial some years ago, there was an unsuccessful push by the defendants to move Bryan out as a bellwether. The argument was that Mr. Bryan had more complications than originally anticipated. The MDL judge denied defendants’ motion to pull Bryan as a bellwether.
The is a different product – the 3DMax – but the allegations are the same. Plaintiff alleges failure to warn patients and healthcare providers about the risks and potential complications associated with the use of the 3DMax mesh. This includes failing to disclose known risks or underrepresenting the severity and frequency of potential side effects. There are also design defect and manufacturing defect claims.
November 9, 2023 – $500,000 Verdict
The jury came back in Stinson with a $500,000 verdict. It is not $4.8 million like the last one but this is a big win. Plaintiffs are winning these cases.
Here is the verdict sheet from the jury.
November 8, 2023 – Day 14 of Stinson Trial
Yesterday was Day 14 of the Stinson bellwether hernia mesh trial. Defendants called Dr. Stephen Badylak who has previously testified for Bard against patients. The also called another frequent flyer expert witness, Maureen Reitman.
Both parties seem confident of victory and do not want to leave grounds for appeal. Oddly, given the nature of litigation, the parties filed a motion that jointly recommended using a single damages verdict form, aligning with Maine law. The parties propose this unified approach to prevent juror confusion and avoid potential appeals or retrials stemming from duplicative recoveries for a single injury.
November 1, 2023 – Defense Expert Testifies
The entirety of yesterday revolved around Dr. Pomerants’ testimony, spanning continued direct queries, cross-interrogation, and a subsequent redirect.
October 31, 2023 – Plaintiff’s Rests in Stinson
The plaintiff rested his case yesterday. The defendants began their case, calling their expert Boris Pomerants, MD, a general surgeon in Columbus, Ohio. Bard’s goal in these cases is to look for something else to blame for the plaintiff’s injury, and Dr. Pomerants is a part of that effort. He blames such things as an assault that the plaintiff suffered 30 years ago and testifies that the real problem here is the plaintiff’s “pervasive and chronic pre-implant pain” that exacerbated his pain sensations and affected his post-operative pain complaints. It certainly feels like a stretch, right?
October 26, 2023 – Stinton v. Bard Enters the Ninth Day
The long-awaited Stinton trial continues to progress. Yesterday was one of the most important days of trial as the plaintiff testified, and so did a key expert witness who linked the defective mesh to Mr. Stinson’s injuries.
The October 10th update below summarizes the facts in this case.
October 10, 2023 – Facts of Bellwether Trial
With the 3rd bellwether test trial set to begin later this month, we thought it would be helpful to quickly review the facts of the case (Stinson v. Davol Inc., et al.). Stinson had a hernia repair procedure in 2015, and a Bard hernia mesh was implanted during the procedure. A few months afterward, Stinson began to have chronic and severe pain in his groin.
Two years after the hernia surgery, Stinson underwent exploratory surgery to determine the cause of his chronic pain. It was discovered that the Bard mesh implant had migrated and crumpled into a ball, causing significant scarring, which was the source of Stinson’s pain. The mesh was removed and replaced, but Stinson continued to suffer pain.
The facts of the Stinson case are arguably much better than those of the last MDL hernia mesh bellwether case (Milanesi).
October 2, 2023 – Stinson on Deck
The next MDL trial is on deck. We think Stinson settles before trial because our lawyers think Bard is rational.
We have been wrong on this point before. (Update: Dead wrong… thankfully as it turns out.)
September 23, 2023 – Covidien MDL Has Trial Dates… in 2025
Judge Patti B. Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the federal judge overseeing Covidien hernia mesh lawsuits in federal courts nationwide has given approval to a proposal for preparing six bellwether cases and selecting two of them for trial in early 2025.
While progress has been somewhat slow in this litigation and 2025 seems like light years away, getting a trial date gets the clock moving on pushing Covidien to make meaningful settlement offers for the over 600 plaintiffs in this litigation.
While the facts are different, this litigation is tied in the Bard MDL psychologically. A big verdict in Stinson next month would not only help the Bard plaintiffs but the other hernia mesh class actions as well.
September 18, 2023 – MDL Surpasses 20,000 Cases
Around 700 new cases were added to the Bard hernia mesh MDL over the last 3 months, bringing the total number of pending cases in the MDL up to 20,405. This is actually a sharp downturn in the monthly new case volume for this litigation. Earlier this year we were regularly seeing 500 new cases per month.
September 1, 2023 – Bellwether Trials Around the Corner
In just 6 weeks we should finally see the next bellwether test trial in the hernia mesh class action against C.R. Bard. Yesterday, Judge Sargus confirmed that the case of Stinson v. Davol, Inc., et al. (18-cv-1022) will finally go to trial on October 16, 2023. Judge Sargus also indicated that a fourth bellwether trial would be set for early 2024 in the case of Bryan v. C.R. Bard Inc., et al. (18-cv-1440).
August 2, 2023 – Bellwether Trial Set for October
On October 16, 2023, the critical third bellwether trial is scheduled to begin in the Bard hernia mesh MDL. A recent case-specific scheduling order issued in that case (Stinson v. C.R. Bard, et al. (2:18-cv-01022)) gives the parties time for some last-minute discovery related to an additional medical procedure that the plaintiff underwent just last month. The order requires all additional discovery to be completed by September 27, 2023, a timetable that clearly indicates that the judge has no intention of postponing the October trial date..
July 1, 2023 – Post-Trial Conversations with Jurors
In the first bellwether trial, the Johns case that is discussed below in the older updates, resulted in a defense verdict. One lessons the plaintiffs got from that verdict is that Mr. Johns’ failure to seek additional medical treatment did not help his cause.
A lawyer in the MDL leadership said this to someone who put it on their website. Bard, being petty, thought that the attorney must have talked to a juror. Ohio has a local rule that you cannot talk to jurors after the trial without the court’s permission (which is a little bit of an unusual rule).
So, already fearful that the next two cases going to trial are not “representative” because the victims have severe injuries, they filed a motion complaining about his breach of ethics and saying the cases that went to trial after Johns were not representative of the other cases in the MDL. But the plaintiffs’ attorneys were able to explain that the ‘feedback’ mentioned was based on a jury question during deliberations and the Court’s comments in a meeting with the PSC.
This satisfied Judge Argus. So Bard just wasted everyone’s time chasing windmills instead of working on offer reasonable settlement amount to resolve the 20,000 lawsuits against it.
June 23, 2023 – MDL Trials Stay on Track
As we continue to await the 3rd bellwether trial in the Bard hernia mesh class action, the MDL judge denied the request by the defense we told you about earlier this month to replace two of the hernia mesh lawsuits cases picked for future test trials. The defense claimed that circumstances in the cases made them no longer appropriate for bellwether trials – i.e. the cases are too strong – but Judge Sargus brushed off the argument and denied the motion.
June 13, 2023 – Judge Excludes Evidence
Judge Edmund Sargus stated in a written order that the mesh used in plaintiff Aaron Stinson’s surgery did not originate from the Puerto Rican factory and was manufactured four years later. He determined that Stinson could not present evidence unrelated to his injury to establish a general pattern of unsafe conduct, citing federal rules of evidence.
Stinson claims that the PerFix Plug mesh, used to treat his hernia in 2015, caused significant scarring, leading to a subsequent surgery in 2017 to remove it. He alleges ongoing chronic pain and other complications.
The judge wrote that Stinson cannot use evidence from a 2011 line fire to demonstrate deficiencies in the defendants’ quality management systems at the time of the fire and, therefore, imply deficiencies in the manufacturing of Stinson’s device.
This will have little impact on the Stinson case because this is not an important piece of evidence. We are telling you about this because it is news… and there is not a lot of news in the hernia mesh litigation right now outside of the preperation of Stinson for trial in October.
June 8, 2023 – Covidien Science Day
The MDL judge in the Covidien hernia mesh MDL, Judge, Patti B. Saris, will hold will host a “Science Day” next week on June 14, 2023. The purpose of Science Day is to give the parties and opportunity to educate the judge on complex topics related to the litigation.
The Bard class action sometimes swallows up the room of hernia mesh lawsuits. But now over 440 suits are in the Covidien class action claiming severe complications from the use of these hernia mesh products and these are strong claims.
June 1, 2023 – Hernia Mesh Settlements in Georgia
Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon Inc. have reached a settlement with plaintiffs in 161 cases related to a defective hernia mesh product. The parties filed a joint motion to dismiss the cases and stated that the settlement would cover all claims, counterclaims, and cross-claims.
January 26, 2023 Bard MDL Update
This is not really an update but we wrote a status of the hernia mesh lawsuits page today that breaks down where we are and the hopes for a settlement.
January 18, 2023 Bard MDL Update
The hernia mesh class action lawsuit against C.R. Bard added another 176 new cases over the last month. This marks the most significant percentage increase of any product liability MDL during that period. The total pending case count in the MDL is now 18,403. The next bellwether trial is still set for May 2023. There is hope of a settlement before that case goes to trial.
January 3, 2022 Coviden MDL Update
While victims wait for the big domino to fall into a settlement – C.R. Bard – the Covidien hernia mesh MDL in the District of Massachusetts is just getting started. A mandatory plaintiff fact sheet was recently approved in the Covidien MDL, which only has 136 pending cases. There are several thousand Covidien hernia mesh cases consolidated in state courts in Massachusetts, and an effort is being made to coordinate discovery between the state and federal actions.
The hope is that a Bard hernia mesh settlement triggers settlement in the smaller MDLs like Covidien.
November 17, 2022 C.R. Bard Update
After adding another 166 new hernia mesh injury cases over the last month, the C.R. Bard class action MDL has almost 18,000 pending cases. There were about 15,000 pending cases in the MDL at the start of 2022. The continued growth of the MDL should increase the pressure on Bard’s parent company, Beckton Dickson, to work out a global settlement deal. The next bellwether trial is set for February and a good result could help push us past the finish line to reasonable settlement payouts for victims who have waited far too long. Or… Bard comes to its sense and makes a fair settlement offer to avoid another verdict.
October 28, 2022 Covidien Mesh Lawsuit Update
At a recent status conference in the Covidien hernia mesh class action MDL, the parties advised Judge Patti Saris (D. Mass.) that 170 Covidien hernia mesh cases are currently pending in federal courts, 5,700 lawsuits pending against Covidien in Massachusetts state courts (Covidien’s home state). The central issue at the status conference was the proposed discovery plan submitted by Covidien. The plaintiffs’ committee is vehemently opposed to the proposal because it would give them under one year to complete corporate discovery.
October 1, 2022 Hernia Mesh Trial Update
Trial in the Bard Hernia Mesh MDL has been confirmed for February 21, 2023, in the case of Stinson v. C.R. Bard et al. Dispositive motions and expert challenges are due next week on October 7, 2022. Bard knows their motions will fail and this trial will go forward if it does not offer reasonable settlement amounts. The first bellwether trial ended in a defense verdict, the 2nd trial resulted in a mediocre verdict, and the third trial was a $4.8 million verdict.
September 16, 2022 Atrium Mesh Update
Bard is not the only class action lawsuit in the mesh litigation, as many people are apt to forget. There are now 3,308 cases pending in the Atrium hernia mesh MDL in New Hampshire (the baby of the hernia mesh class action MDLs). This is an increase of 17 new lawsuits over the last 30 days. So that class action is slowly growing.
August 29, 2022 Hernia Mesh Verdict Update
A Rhode Island jury awarded $4.8 million in damages in the Trevino. The jury found that Bard’s Ventralex hernia mesh was defectively designed and the company filed to warn of the risks.
August 28, 2022 New Hernia Mesh MDL Update
Yes, there are more hernia mesh class action lawsuits that do not involve Bard. The judge presiding over the new Covidien hernia mesh MDL in Massachusetts – Hon. Patti B. Saris – held the first status conference with lawyers for both sides this week. Just two months after the Covidien hernia mesh cases were consolidated into a class action, there are now 90 cases pending in the MDL.
Judge Saris will be making appointments to the plaintiff leadership committee in the coming weeks, after which a plan for discovery and the selection of initial bellwether cases will be the next items on the MDL agenda.
August 27, 2022 Hernia Mesh State Court Lawsuit Update
The jury is out in Trevino v. Bard, a state court case in Rhode Island Superior Court (August 28, 2022 Update – no news.)
August 26, 2022 – Hernia Mesh Class Action Update
Is a hernia mesh settlement finally on the horizon? It may be. A settlement mediator was appointed by the Bard mesh class action judge last week.
Notably, the settlement mediator was appointed with the joint agreement of lawyers on both sides to facilitate negotiations on the global settlement of the C.R. Bard hernia mesh lawsuits. If the Bard domino falls, other hernia mesh class actions might also fall into place.
This is a significant step forward that could result in a negotiated settlement before the end of 2022. The MDL judge also scheduled two more bellwether trials for February – the long-awaited Stinson case Bard wants to avoid – and another in May 2023. So that gives Bard an extra incentive to offer reasonable settlement payouts for victims before that case goes to trial.
August 24, 2022 Covidien Class Action Update
Judge Patti B. Saris held the first status conference this week in the new Covidien hernia mesh MDL in Massachusetts. The Covidien hernia mesh MDL was established in June and has 90 pending cases. The first order of business for Judge Saris will be to appoint attorneys to serve on the plaintiffs’ leadership committee. Once that is done, the next task will be establishing a discovery plan and protocol for selecting initial bellwether test cases.
August 4, 2022 – Hernia Mesh Class Action Update
A hernia mesh trial against C.R. Bard in Providence, Rhode Island, recently revealed that Bard allegedly used a plastic resin in its mesh products even after the plastic supplier told them it was unsafe.
C.R. Bard used a plastic made by LyondellBasell called Pro-fax 6523 in all of its hernia mesh products because it was the cheapest available material that met specifications.
Bard did this, although LyondellBasell deemed Pro-fax 6523 unfit for permanent implantation inside the body and expressly prohibited buyers from using it in hernia mesh products. That C.R. Bard knowingly ignored this is a new revelation that could swing the momentum in the C.R. Bard class action MDL if these allegations are true.
July 29, 2022 – Hernia Mesh Class Action Update
There are now four separate hernia mesh class-action MDLS. Each of the MDLs involves claims against hernia mesh products made by different manufacturers. The most recent of the four hernia mesh MDLs involves claims against Covidien over its Parietex hernia patch implant.
The Covidien MDL was formed a few months ago. As of July 15, 2022, it had 85 plaintiffs with pending cases. Many of these plaintiffs claim that the absorbable barrier and the polyester fibers of the Parietex hernia patch were defective, causing the patch to migrate out of position or fail at an abnormally high rate.
July 22, 2022 – Hernia Mesh Class Action Update
The last month saw another high volume of new hernia mesh lawsuits added to the C.R. Bard hernia mesh MDL. Between June 15 and July 15, 216 new hernia mesh lawsuits were transferred into the Bard MDL, bringing the total case count up to 17,195.
The recent increase in new filings could be in reaction to the rumors that a global settlement agreement may soon be in the works, and lawyers are getting cases filed in advance of those negotiations.
July 15, 2022 – Hernia Mesh Class Action Update
Back in April, the second bellwether trial in the C.R. Bard Hernia Mesh MDL resulted in a verdict of $225,000 for the plaintiffs. None of the participants were delighted with the result – Bard did not like the plaintiff’s verdict and the plaintiff did not like the verdict. Both sides promptly filed motions seeking to overturn the verdict.
The defense motion argued that there was not sufficient evidence of causation. The plaintiffs claimed that the jury was not adequately instructed on calculating damages. The MDL judge issued a pair of orders denying both motions and ensuring that the bellwether verdict will stand unless vacated on appeal.
July 7, 2022 – Hernia Mesh Class Action Update
Good news out of the MDL class action lawsuit. Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. ruled that Bard’s lawyers’ request for a “Lone Pine” order that would have put a significant burden on victims and their lawyers would be denied.
Bard wanted to make plaintiffs’ attorneys produce more case-specific evidence than you usually would expect in class action litigation at this phase.
The judge said such an order would be unnecessary because there was already bountiful evidence of the core of each plaintiff’s claim. Plaintiffs have already answered fact sheets that provide medical records and other evidence of their injuries.
June 20, 2022 – Hernia Mesh Class Action Update
C.R. Bard wants to reduce the number of hernia mesh lawsuits filed against it before settlement negotiations begin in earnest. So it asked the court for a docket control order hoping to get some cases dismissed.
The plaintiffs strongly opposed the docket control order being sought by the defendants in the C.R. Bard hernia mesh MDL. The opposition blasts the defense for seeking “de facto summary judgment” and claims that the relief requested is unjustified, overly burdensome, and unprecedented. On Friday, the defense submitted a reply suggesting that the benefits in managing the MDL would justify the burden on plaintiffs.
May 28, 2o22 -Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Update
The judge in the Strattice hernia mesh lawsuits (currently consolidated in a New Jersey state court version of an MDL) recently issued an order establishing detailed rules and protocol for the preservation and testing of physical evidence. The order explicitly addresses the preservation of explanted mesh implants and tissue samples from plaintiffs who undergo corrective surgery. The rules were jointly proposed by the parties and aim to avoid issues arising in previous hernia mesh MDLs.
May 24, 2022 – Milanesi Appeal
Hernia mesh lawyers were glad to win Milanesi but unhappy with the verdict. Bard was disappointed with the verdict. So neither side was entirely happy with the $250,000 verdict awarded to Plaintiffs Antonio and Alicia Milanesi in the 2nd bellwether trial against C.R. Bard.
Soon after the verdict was issued, both the plaintiffs and the defendants filed motions challenging the verdict. The plaintiffs filed a Motion for a New Trial on Damages (FRCP 59) because the trial judge failed to correctly instruct the jury that the defense had the burden of proof on the issue of mitigation of damages.
Bard’s defense team filed a Motion for Judgement as a Matter of Law (FRCP 50(b)), claiming that the plaintiffs failed to prove that the hernia mesh was defective under Florida’s risk-utility standard. Bard’s motion also argues that the plaintiffs did not establish causation under Florida law.
Responses to both motions are due tomorrow.
Milanesi Verdict of $255,000
In 2021, we lost one mesh trial, the Johns case. We won Milanesi v. C.R. Bard in April 2022, with a $255,000 verdict in a Bard Ventralex case that was tried in the Southern District of Ohio.
This post speculates on how much these hernia mesh lawsuits are worth. Did Milanesi change these numbers? No. Many were disappointed with the size of the verdict. But that case had some unique defenses you will not see in most cases.
This post will offer a reasonable estimate of how much individual hernia mesh claims might be worth in the final settlement.
Where Do Settlement Talks Go After the Milanesi Verdict?
Settlement talks in the hernia mesh lawsuit have yet to produce a global settlement. I am perplexed as to why Bard has not offered reasonable settlement amounts. Some of the Bard claims have been settled in Rhode Island state court. So obviously, Bard is not allergic to the idea of settlement. Bard might be the domino that would also get the Covidien lawsuits settled. But nothing has happened so that we may have a third bellwether hernia mesh trial.
When Is the Next Hernia Mesh Trial?
There will not be any more trials in the Bard MDL. These cases will either settle this spring (2024) or they will get remanded for trials all over the country. This will be the fourth MDL trial and the fifth overall.
Summary of the Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
A hernia mesh is a small piece of surgical mesh or screen used to reinforce and strengthen tissue walls in hernia surgeries. The hernia mesh products at issue in the lawsuits suffered from a host of similar defects in their design which caused them to fail.
Some of the mesh products were made out of materials that were not “biologically inert,” which caused the patient’s immune system to reject the mesh as a foreign object. Other mesh products had a design flaw that caused them to attach and fuse into the adjacent tissue abnormally.
The defects in these hernia mesh implants caused them to fail after being implanted. The results were severe post-surgical complications which eventually required the patients to undergo corrective surgery to remove the defective mesh. Many patients were left with permanent injuries.
As these hernia mesh injuries started accumulating, a steady stream of product liability lawsuits were filed in response. Within a year, the number of hernia mesh lawsuits in federal courts around the country was enough to trigger the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to create three new class action MDLs for consolidated handling of the cases:
- The Bard Hernia Mesh MDL (In re: Davol, Inc./C.R. Bard, Inc., Polypropylene Hernia Mesh Products Liability Lit. – MDL-2846)
- The Ethicon Hernia Mesh MDL (In re: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Lit. – MDL-2782) (which has recently settled, but new cases will continue to be filed)
- Atrium C-Qur Hernia Mesh MDL (In re: Atrium Medical Corp. C-Qur Mesh Products Liability Litigation – MDL-2753)
The ProLite, Strattice, and ProLoop (manufactured by Atrium Medical Corp.) are the latest polypropylene hernia mesh products to be the subject of a growing wave of product liability lawsuits.
The lawsuits allege that the polypropylene material these products are made from is defective because it is not biologically inert and degrades inside the body leading to infections and chronic pain. Atrium is accused of ignoring scientific studies showing the various problems with polypropylene mesh implants.
Lawyers for some of the plaintiffs in the ProLite hernia mesh lawsuits filed a motion asking the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate all pending ProLite and ProLoop lawsuits into a new MDL. But this effort was rejected and these cases will proceed as individual claims.
What Is the Nutshell of the Allegations in the Bard Hernia Mesh Class Action?
In the Bard hernia mesh lawsuits, plaintiffs allege they have suffered significant harm after being implanted with hernia mesh devices manufactured by Bard, a subsidiary of Becton Dickinson.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the hernia mesh products were defectively designed and improperly manufactured, leading to a range of severe complications. These complications include chronic pain, infections, mesh migration (where the mesh shifts from its intended position), mesh shrinkage, perforation of nearby organs, and the recurrence of hernias, which required additional surgeries for many patients.
Allegation Bard Knew of the Risk
One of the central claims in the litigation is that Bard was aware of the potential risks associated with its hernia mesh products but failed to provide adequate warnings to both patients and healthcare providers. Plaintiffs argue that Bard did not sufficiently disclose the risks of serious complications nor provide proper instructions for the safe use of the mesh devices, leaving both surgeons and patients inadequately informed about the dangers.
Compensation Sought
Due to these alleged failures, plaintiffs are seeking compensation for the physical injuries they have endured, including the severe pain and suffering caused by mesh-related complications. They are also pursuing damages for the emotional distress they experienced and the financial burdens incurred from medical expenses, lost wages, and the costs associated with additional surgeries and treatments needed to address the complications. The lawsuits aim to hold Bard accountable for these damages and seek just compensation for the individuals harmed by the defective hernia mesh products.
Settlements in Prior Surgical Mesh Cases
Estimating the potential settlement amounts of product liability claims in a mass tort is hardly an exact science. There are too many variables and unknowns that can have a drastic impact on settlement compensation.
In the hernia mesh litigation, in addition to the bellwether trials, we do have some prior verdicts in earlier hernia mesh or surgical mesh defect lawsuits. These results give us some basis to come up with a reasonable value estimate for the present cases. The prior mesh litigation involved C.R. Bard and its Kugel Hernia Mesh product.
What Is the Expected Settlement Amount for the Average Hernia Mesh Lawsuit?
Based on the awards in the Kugel hernia mesh litigation and results in similar medical device cases, our lawyers believe that claims in the current hernia mesh litigation will end up with a settlement ranges between $10,000 and $1,000,000.
The reason this range is so broad is that the value of each individual claim will vary significantly based on the level of injury involved. What do we think the average hernia mesh settlement be? Our guess – and we are getting closer to the end of this thing is – the average hernia mesh payout will be between $70,000 and $80,000.
Prior Mesh Settlement Amounts
The Kugel was an earlier type of hernia mesh. Unfortunately, it had a serious design flaw which caused a plastic ring on the mesh to break off inside the patient after being implanted. This caused painful bowel obstruction and required corrective surgery – very similar to the injuries involved in the current hernia mesh cases.
After a $1.5 million verdict in the first Kugel bellwether case, Bard agreed to a $184 million global settlement which amounted to $70,000 per claim. Not all claimants received the same amount, however, with some getting more and some less than $70,000 per person.
The settlement in the Kugel hernia mesh litigation resulted in a very similar value range for individual cases. The total Kugel hernia mesh lawsuit settlement payment of $184,000,000 resolved just over 2,000 individual claims, which equals about $70k per claim.
But each plaintiff in the Kugel litigation did not simply get a $70,00 check. Instead, the plaintiffs were grouped into settlement tiers with a points system based on the level of injury they suffered. Plaintiffs in Tier 1 had the most severe injuries and reportedly received around $900,000. Tier 2 plaintiffs reportedly received less than half of this amount and the bottom tier plaintiffs got much less than the $70k per claim average.
Vaginal Mesh Also Gives Us Settlement Amount Clues
We saw similar mesh lawsuit settlement numbers in another mass tort case involving Endo International’s vaginal mesh implants. In that litigation (which had many similarities to the hernia mess litigation), Endo paid $900 million to settle about 20,000 individual claims. This worked out to an average individual settlement amount of $45,000 per claim. But the settlement proceeds were distributed based on a tiered settlement system. The cases in the lowest settlement tier received very little, while plaintiffs in the top tier received over $500,000.
Of course, some plaintiffs opted out of the Kugel hernia mesh settlements. Bard veterans will remember a jury awarded a plaintiff $3.6 million in a mesh lawsuit in 2016. In 2018, another jury awarded a plaintiff $18.5 million in a mesh lawsuit (Boston Scientific was the defendant). So Bard understands that juries will award large verdicts in mesh cases where the injuries are severe.
Do I Qualify for a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit?
You may qualify for a hernia mesh lawsuit if you underwent hernia repair surgery in which a mesh was used and you subsequently suffered serious post-surgery complications such as adhesion or infection that were potentially related to defects in the hernia mesh.
(In this sense, “qualify” is defined as our hernia mesh lawyers being willing to take your case.)
Contact Us About Your Hernia Mesh Case
It is not too late to file your hernia mesh lawsuit. If you were injured by a defective hernia mesh implant, call our hernia mesh lawyers today at 800-553-5053.