Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Against Bard On Track For Bellwether Trial To Begin in October 2023

The next Bard hernia mesh bellwether trial will be closely watched to determine how juries respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout thousands of pending lawsuits.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all hernia mesh lawsuits filed against C.R. Bard in the federal court system has approved an agreement reached by the parties to modify the schedule leading up to the next bellwether trial, but it will not impact the start of the case, which is still set to go before jurors on October 16, 2023.

There are currently more than 18,000 product liability lawsuits against Bard involving hernia mesh complications associated with various different polypropylene products sold in recent years, including Bard Ventralight, Bard Ventralex, Bard 3DMax, Bard PerFix Plug, and other similar systems.

Since each of the claims raise similar questions of fact and law, the lawsuits are centralized before U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus in the Southern District of Ohio, as part of a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL), where a series of trials are being held to help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the claims.

Judge Sargus has already presided over two Bard hernia mesh trials, which ended in mixed results. The first case went before a jury in August 2021, resulting in a defense verdict for Bard. That trial was followed by a second bellwether case in April 2022, resulting in a $255,000 verdict.

As result, parties involved in the litigation are closely watching two final bellwether trials scheduled to begin in the coming months, which may impact the average hernia mesh settlement amounts the manufacturer offers to avoid thousands of individual cases being returned to U.S. District Courts nationwide for separate trials in the coming years.

Next Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Against Bard Set for October

The parties previously selected a Bard PerFix Plug lawsuit filed by Robert Stinson, Jr. for the next trial date, which is scheduled to begin in October 2023. That case will be followed by a fourth trial, involving a Bard 3DMax lawsuit brought by Jacob Bryan, which is expected to go to trial in January 2024.

Earlier this year, Bard attempted to postpone the start of these cases by having the court replace the selections with other bellwether candidates, arguing that the claims brought by Stinson and Bryan are no longer representative of most hernia mesh lawsuits against Bard.

In both instances, Bard claimed the plaintiffs’ injuries have worsened significantly while awaiting trial. Their original claims were only for pain, but both cases indicate the plaintiffs’ injuries have advanced beyond just pain to more severe complications.

However, last month Judge Sargus denied Bard’s request to have the cases replaced, while putting some restrictions in place on what arguments Stinson could make at trial.

Stinson has undergone more rounds of hernia revision surgery since filing his lawsuit, but those involved a different Bard hernia mesh product.

Late last week, Judge Stinson approved a joint stipulation (PDF) reached by the parties, which agreed to modify the schedule of certain case-specific developments leading up to the trial. However, the jury is still expected to begin hearing evidence on October 16, 2023.

The updated schedule now calls for supplemental fact depositions and depositions of new treating healthcare providers to be completed by August 14, and plaintiff supplemental expert reports due by August 28. Motions in limine, based on new facts and new discovery, are due by August 25, with responses due within 10 days. The schedule indicates all expert depositions will be completed by September 27.

While the outcome of the Stinson and Bryan trials will not have any binding impact on other plaintiffs in the litigation, the average hernia mesh lawsuit payout awarded by the juries will likely have a large impact on the values of claims during further settlement negotiations with Bard over the coming months.