Judge Sets Next Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuit for Trial in January 2027

Second bellwether trial will be closely watched to see if plaintiffs can win another victory, increasing pressure on the manufacturer to negotiate Covidien hernia mesh settlements with injured consumers.

A federal judge has scheduled another Covidien hernia mesh lawsuit bellwether trial to get underway in early 2027, after the first of such trials ended in a landmark $88 million verdict against the medical device manufacturer this summer.

Covidien currently faces nearly 2,500 product liability lawsuits filed by individuals nationwide. Each alleges that the company’s line of hernia mesh implants, including the Symbotex, Parietex, ProGrip and others, are defectively designed and prone to failure, adhesions, recurring hernias and the need for revision surgery.

Many of these designs are made from a permanent polyester textile covered by an absorbable collagen barrier derived from porcine tissue. The coating is supposed to temporarily prevent the mesh from attaching to the bowel and other organs while tissue grows over the implant.

However, plaintiffs allege the protective coating may degrade too quickly, leaving the polyester mesh exposed before the healing process is complete. They claim this can cause the implant to attach to internal organs, resulting in adhesions, bowel obstructions, infections, recurring hernias, chronic pain and revision surgery.

The lawsuits also allege Covidien has long known about problems with its hernia mesh products but failed to warn patients or medical professionals and did not correct the alleged design defects. The claims maintain that Covidien and its parent company, Medtronic, instead placed profits ahead of patient safety.

All federal Covidien hernia mesh lawsuits have been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts before U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. Judge Saris has launched a program to put several early test cases before juries to see how they respond to evidence and testimony likely to be presented in claims throughout the litigation.

Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Bellwether Trials

The first Covidien hernia mesh lawsuit bellwether trial was held in mid-July. It ended in early August with an $88 million verdict for Larry Patterson and his wife. According to the lawsuit, originally filed in 2017, Patterson suffered bowel obstruction and a recurring hernia after a Symbotex mesh adhered to his bowels.

While the trial’s results are not binding on other hernia mesh claims, the verdict could strengthen plaintiffs’ position in settlement negotiations, which could also be reinforced by further court victories.

In a court order (PDF) issued on August 25, Judge Saris announced that the next Covidien hernia mesh bellwether trial will begin on January 11, 2027, involving claims by Regina Stephen of Mississippi.

Stephen filed her complaint in September 2022, indicating she was implanted with a Covidien Symbotex in 2017, during a ventral hernia repair procedure. In July 2020, Stephen underwent an additional surgery to have the mesh removed after suffering small bowel adhesions.

“Due to the defects of the Device as described in this Complaint, including premature resorption of the collagen coating meant to protect against adhesions, Plaintiff has suffered significant adhesions to the mesh, extensive pain as a result of those adhesions and the intense and chronic inflammatory response induced by the Device, bowel problems, infections and intervention surgery to repair Defendants’ Hernia Mesh Device and continues to suffer pain and ongoing complications.”

– Regina Stephen v. Covidien Inc. et al.

Judge Saris’s order calls for a pretrial memorandum by December 1, 2026, and a final pretrial conference is scheduled for December 10.

A third trial, with claims involving a Covidien ProGrip hernia mesh product, has been tentatively scheduled to begin in March 2027.

Following the bellwether trials, if the attorneys are still unable to come to a Covidien hernia mesh settlement agreement or other resolution, the judge may begin remanding claims back to their original federal courts for individual trial dates.

Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Settlement

Covidien is one of several manufacturers facing product liability claims involving hernia mesh implants. C.R. Bard has also faced more than 25,000 hernia mesh lawsuits, which were consolidated in a separate multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus in the Southern District of Ohio.

In October 2025, Bard reached a hernia mesh settlement designed to resolve a large share of the pending claims. However, patients may continue to file new lawsuits if their injuries were diagnosed more recently or their hernia mesh implants began failing years after the initial repair procedure.

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