Mediation To Discuss Settling Covidien Hernia Mesh Lawsuits Set for March 31 Through April 4

Settlement negotiations will focus on ways to resolve hundreds of lawsuits over hernia mesh complications allegedly caused by defectively designed Covidien products used during hernia surgery in recent years.

With more than 1,600 Covidien hernia mesh lawsuits pending in the federal court system, lawyers involved in the cases have told the U.S. District Judge presiding over the litigation that they will meet with a mediator the week of March 31, to conduct in-person settlement talks.

The negotiation could help bring a resolution to product liability lawsuits brought by individuals throughout the U.S., each raising similar allegations that patients suffered painful and debilitating complications caused by defectively designed implants sold in recent years, such as Covidien’s Parietex, Symbotex and other hernia mesh products.

Similar hernia mesh litigation has haunted manufacturers of other polyethylene hernia mesh products in recent years, resulting in tens of thousands of lawsuits over Bard hernia mesh products, Ethicon’s Physiomesh and Atrium C-Qur mesh products, each of which resulted in global settlement agreements.

Since 2022, a Covidien hernia mesh multidistrict litigation (MDL) has been established in the District of Massachusetts, where U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris is currently presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings. 

Under her orders, the parties have been preparing a small group of Covidien bellwether lawsuits for early trials, involving representative claims that are expected to go before juries late this year, or in early 2026.

Last month, the parties indicated that they were prepared to identify a mediator for potential Covidien hernia mesh settlement talks, which may allow the parties to resolve the litigation without the need for individual cases to go to trial. 

In a joint status report (PDF) issued on March 11, the parties informed Judge Saris they have agreed to hold a potential in-person status conference with the mediator on March 31, April 1, April 2 or April 4.

If these talks are successful and result in an agreement to settle Covidien hernia mesh lawsuits, the bellwether trials would not be necessary. But as of now, the parties are still working toward preparing those cases for trial dates.

While the outcomes of these trials will not be binding on other plaintiffs, the average Covidien hernia mesh lawsuit payouts may help determine the amount the manufacturer may need to pay to avoid each case going to trial separately in the coming years.

In other litigation involving similar polypropylene mesh products, lawyers reached agreements to settle Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits and Atrium C-Qur lawsuits before any claims went to trial. However, a global Bard hernia mesh settlement was announced last year, resolving more than 21,000 claims, following mixed results in a series of bellwether trials held.