Covidien Symbotex Mesh Lawsuit Reset For Trial in July 2026

The first in a series of Covidien hernia mesh lawsuits was initially expected to go before a jury in February, but a new pretrial schedule has been issued, which indicates the parties should hold routine settlement discussion.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal Covidien hernia mesh lawsuits has reinstated a trial date for the first bellwether claim, which involves complications associated with a Covidien Symbotex implant and will now go before a jury in July 2026, to help test allegations being raised in thousands of claims over the mesh’s allegedly defective designs.

The schedule was restored after a text-only order entered on November 18, which set a final pretrial conference for June 25, 2026, and rescheduled the first bellwether trial for July 13, 2026. This update came less than two weeks after the Court canceled the first Covidien hernia mesh trial date, which was expected to get underway in February 2026.

While the trial will not have any binding impact on other plaintiffs pursuing lawsuits over complications with Covidien hernia mesh products, it is being closely watched by more than 2,200 other claimants awaiting the chance to present their case to a jury in the federal court system, where the litigation has been centralized before U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris in the District of Massachusetts since June 2022, as part of a federal MDL (multidistrict litigation).

Plaintiffs across the MDL raise similar allegations, indicating that various Covidien mesh devices share design problems that can lead to chronic pain, infections, adhesions, hernia recurrence and the need for revision surgery. Many claims focus on the polyester or composite materials used in products like Symbotex and Parietex, which are alleged to behave unpredictably once implanted.

The Covidien proceedings follow years of parallel hernia mesh litigation involving other manufacturers, including Bard, Ethicon and Atrium, each of which ultimately faced waves of product liability claims and entered large-scale settlement agreements after bellwether trials highlighted recurring safety concerns.

As part of the bellwether process, Judge Saris previously required both sides to identify a sample of representative cases, which involve allegations that are repeated throughout a wide range of claims. These cases have gone through case-specific discovery and preparations for a series of early trials, which are intended to help gauge how jurors may respond to recurring questions about mesh performance, potential design flaws and the adequacy of Covidien’s warnings.

One of the cases selected during this process involves Alabama resident Larry Patterson, whose failed hernia mesh lawsuit provides a detailed account of the complications he allegedly suffered after receiving a Covidien Symbotex mesh implant.

According to the complaint (PDF), Patterson underwent surgery in July 2017 to repair an incisional hernia, during which a Symbotex Model SYM9 mesh patch was implanted. Over time, the mesh allegedly adhered tightly to his small bowel, contributing to a small bowel obstruction and a recurrent hernia, which required major corrective surgery in July 2020. During that operation, surgeons had to resect a segment of Patterson’s bowel at the point where it was stuck to the mesh.

The lawsuit indicates that Patterson experienced significant adhesions, chronic inflammation, serosal injury, bowel injury and ongoing pain, all allegedly attributable to premature degradation of the mesh’s collagen coating and exposure of the polyester material. His injuries are described as severe and permanent, requiring ongoing medical care and resulting in physical pain, emotional distress and substantial medical expenses.

Similar to thousands of other claims, his complaint alleges that Covidien misrepresented the long-term safety of the device, withheld adverse information, and failed to warn that once the collagen layer resorbs, the exposed polyester can adhere to organs such as the bowel. Patterson’s claim asserts these risks were known to the manufacturer for years.

The new scheduling order requires the parties to file motions in limine by April 6, 2026, with opposition briefs due May 4, followed by oral argument on May 20, when the Court will determine what expert testimony and scientific evidence will be presented to the jury.

With the new dates now in place, the Patterson trial is expected to serve as a critical test of plaintiffs’ core allegations that Covidien’s polyester-based Symbotex design can degrade, contract or adhere to surrounding tissue, causing severe complications that may require bowel resection or mesh removal.

In the months before trial begins, the parties are expected to continue holding periodic Covidien hernia mesh lawsuit settlement negotiations, as part of an effort to reach a global framework that may resolve large numbers of claims. Otherwise, Judge Saris may begin remanding large numbers of claims back to U.S. District Courts nationwide for separate trial dates in the coming years.