Hernia Mesh Multi-district Litigation

At the Personal Injury Bart Bernard Personal Injury Lawyers, we believe in holding manufacturers of defective medical devices accountable for their wrongdoing. Many of our clients have endured painful complications from hernia mesh implants — devices meant to restore and not harm. At present, there are nearly 3,000 hernia mesh lawsuits pending in courtrooms around the country, and most have been transferred into multidistrict litigation (MDL) to expedite proceedings in the legal system.

Manufacturers like Ethicon, Atrium Medical and Bard find themselves at the forefront of escalating litigation involving claims of debilitating hernia mesh injuries. Plaintiffs are seeking compensation for medical bills, revision surgeries, lost income, loss of consortium, as well as pain and emotional suffering. There is no cost to consult Louisiana attorney Bart Bernard about your case. If you suffered injury or recurrence after receiving a surgical implant, you may be eligible to file a hernia mesh lawsuit against the manufacturer. Bart Bernard is currently accepting hernia mesh cases in Lafayette, Baton Rouge and throughout Louisiana.

The injuries and complications alleged in hernia mesh lawsuits are debilitating in nature, oftentimes requiring surgical intervention and extended hospital stays. Organ perforation, bowel adhesion, infection and life-threatening inflammatory reactions are just some of the issues listed. Plaintiffs contend that manufacturers failed to perform pre-market safety studies on the implants and were aware of the products’ flaws yet did not warn the medical community or consumers.

In addition to the various consolidated litigations against Ethicon, Bard and Atrium Medical, at least two hernia mesh class actions have been formed in Canada. A class action lawsuit joins multiple plaintiffs with similar allegations against a single defendant or defendants. A class action was filed against Bard in 2014 concerning the company’s Composix Kugel hernia mesh patch. The case was eventually resolved with a $1.375 million settlement.

A class action is essentially one case with a single outcome, whereas multidistrict litigation groups multiple civil lawsuits with common factual issues, but each is tried separately.  Lawsuits in the hernia mesh MDL proceedings share resources in the pre-trial and discovery processes, but verdicts are decided on a case by case basis.

There are currently three separate hernia mesh MDLs in U.S. federal courts.

In 2017, a federal panel established MDL No. 2782 (RE: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation) to facilitate the growing number of Ethicon claims involving the Physiomesh implants. More than 1,200 cases are currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The Physiomesh implants were voluntarily withdrawn from the global market in 2016 after it was determined they were linked to abnormally high failure and revision rates when used in laparoscopic ventral hernia repair. The first Ethicon hernia mesh lawsuit is slated for trial in September of 2019.

Rhode Island-based multidistrict ligation involving faulty Kugel Composix hernia mesh patches ended in 2011, when Bard agreed to resolve the majority of the 3,600 cases with a $184 million settlement. Bard voluntarily recalled the Kugel patches in 2005, based on evidence the mesh caused injury to nearby organs due to manufacturing defects.

In Spring of 2018, plaintiffs petitioned for a second hernia mesh MDL (Polypropylene Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2846) against Bard and Davol (a Bard subsidiary) that would centralize 55 claims involving polypropylene mesh patches. The multidistrict litigation is proposed to take place in either the the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio or the Western District of Mississippi.

Plaintiffs contend the devices in question cause internal adhesions, infections and produce a severe inflammatory response. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is expected to issue a ruling on the motion in the coming months.

Atrium Medical Corporation is also embroiled in heavy litigation over its C-QUR hernia mesh inserts. The JPML established MDL No. 2753 in December 2016 and assigned the cases to the Honorable Landya B. McCafferty in New Hampshire District Court. Hundreds of claimants charge that the C-QUR surgical mesh incites an inflammatory reaction that causes severe complications and long-term injury. According to court dockets, the first Atrium hernia mesh trial will begin in February of 2020.

Hernia mesh lawsuits against manufacturer Covidien are proceeding on an individual basis and have not been consolidated under MDL. Mesh devices named in the lawsuits include Covidien’s Parietex Composite Mesh, Parietex ProGrip Mesh and Parietex Surgical Mesh.

Manufacturers have already been ordered to pay hefty judgements in hernia class actions and individual cases.

As evidenced by previous resolutions, hernia mesh lawsuit settlement amounts can provide adequate means for injured plaintiffs to pay medical costs, recoup lost wages and secure some sense of justice for their suffering. The Bard Kugel mesh settlement netted each plaintiff around $70,000, but compensatory damages can vary significantly depending on the injuries sustained.

Defective hernia mesh products put people at risk for life-altering injury. If you or a loved one developed complications after hernia mesh surgery, contact Bart Bernard for a free case review. Protect your rights to compensation and put our experience and dedication to work for you. All cases are taken on a contingency basis, so there is no fee unless we win money on your behalf.

1. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, IN RE: Atrium Medical Corp. C-QUR Mesh Products Liability Litigation; MDL No. 2753 http://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/sites/jpml/files/MDL-2753-Initial_Transfer-12-16.pdf
2. FDA, Hernia Surgical Mesh Implants https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/HerniaSurgicalMesh/default.htm
3. S. Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, IN RE: Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation; Transfer Order; MDL No. 2782 http://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/sites/jpml/files/MDL-2782-Initial_Transfer-05-17.pdf
4. Lexis Legal News, DL Sought For Hernia Mesh Patches Made By C.R. Bard, Davol https://www.lexislegalnews.com/articles/25993/mdl-sought-for-hernia-mesh-patches-made-by-c-r-bard-davol

Last modified: July 04, 2019