Bard Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit Scheduled for Trial to Begin Sept. 23 in N.J.

A New Jersey judge has scheduled the first trial date for a Bard vaginal mesh lawsuit to begin in late September, serving as a “bellwether” case in the state court litigation, where hundreds of similar lawsuits are pending.  

In an order (PDF) issued late last month, Judge Carol E. Higbee set out a new schedule for early test cases in the state involving vaginal mesh manufactured by C.R. Bard, indicating that a trial will begin on September 23 for a case brought by a woman who received the mesh transvaginally for repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP).

Judge Higbee is presiding over the centralized New Jersey state court litigation involving more than 550 lawsuits over Bard vaginal mesh (PDF) and more than 3,000 lawsuits over Ethicon’s Gynecare pelvic mesh (PDF).

Learn More About

Vaginal Mesh Lawsuits

Complications from transvaginal mesh may cause severe injuries.

Learn More SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR COMPENSATION

All of the cases involve similar allegations raised by women who experienced painful and debilitating complications from vaginal mesh implanted to treat pelvic organ prolapse or female stress urinary incontinence. The lawsuits maintain that the surgical mesh products manufactured by C.R. Bard and Ethicon were defectively designed and pose a risk of eroding through the vagina, causing infections and other serious health problems.

The specific case that will go before a jury has not yet been selected, as Judge Higbee has indicated that it will be chosen from a pool of four cases that will be identified by the parties before July 2.

A prior vaginal mesh trial held before Judge Higbee earlier this year resulted in a jury award of $11.1 million in damages to a woman who experienced complications from Ethicon’s Gynecare Prolift mesh, including $7.76 million in punitive damages designed to punish the manufacturer for failing to warn about the risks associated with their mesh.

These early trial dates serve as “bellwether” cases, because they are designed to help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation.

Federal Vaginal Mesh Litigation

In addition to the New Jersey state court cases, more than 12,500 vaginal mesh lawsuits are pending throughout the federal court system, where the cases have been centralized as part of 6 different MDLs or multidistrict litigations, involving products manufactured by C.R. Bard, Ethicon, American Medical Systems (AMS), Boston Scientific, Coloplast and Cook Medical.

Each of the MDLs established for the different medical device manufacturers are centralized before U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia.

According to recent case list released by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation last month, Judge Goodwin is currently presiding over at least 2,938 Bard Avaulta mesh lawsuits, 6,028 AMS vaginal mesh lawsuits, 3,557 Boston Scientific pelvic mesh lawsuits, 5,763 Ethicon Gynecare mesh lawsuits and 320 Coloplast bladder slings lawsuits.

A small group of cases are also being prepared for early trial dates in each of the MDLs, with the first Bard Avaulta lawsuits scheduled for trial to begin on July 8, with a series of four cases to go before a jury. Later this year or early next year, additional trials are expected in the federal court system involving products manufactured by AMS, Ethicon and Boston Scientific.

The outcomes of these trials may influence negotiations to settle vaginal mesh lawsuits. If settlements or other resolutions are not reached, the manufacturers could face thousands of individual trials in courts throughout the country over the coming years.

0 Comments

Share Your Comments

I authorize the above comments be posted on this page*

Want your comments reviewed by a lawyer?

To have an attorney review your comments and contact you about a potential case, provide your contact information below. This will not be published.

NOTE: Providing information for review by an attorney does not form an attorney-client relationship.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

More Top Stories

Lawyers Propose MDL Trial Dates for Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit Starting in May 2025
Lawyers Propose MDL Trial Dates for Baby Formula NEC Lawsuit Starting in May 2025 (Posted yesterday)

A series of four bellwether claims in the baby formula NEC lawsuit MDL will be ready to go before a federal juries in May 2025, August 2025, November 2025 and February 2026 according to a proposed trial schedule agreed upon by both plaintiffs and defendants.

AngioDynamics Port Catheter Lawsuit MDL Established in Southern District of California
AngioDynamics Port Catheter Lawsuit MDL Established in Southern District of California (Posted 2 days ago)

U.S. JPML has transferred all AngioDynamics port catheter lawsuits to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings as part of a federal MDL (multidistrict litigation).