All transvaginal mesh lawsuits against the TVM manufacturer, Ethicon, are currently on hold due to delays in the next bellwether trial. Over 65,000 TVM lawsuits are currently pending against TVM manufacturers, because their mesh slings caused complications and permanent injuries to women across the country. Before these lawsuits can be addressed, however, the third Ethicon bellwether trial must proceed. Unfortunately, the third bellwether trial, which was scheduled to start on December 4, 2014, has been postponed and rescheduled for March 2, 2015.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin is overseeing seven of the MDL’s involving transvaginal mesh slings, including Boston Scientific, Ethicon, American Medical Systems, Bard Avaulta, Coloplast, Cook Medical, and Neomedic. Multidistrict litigation is currently established for all those TVM manufacturers.
What is Multidistrict Litigation?
Multidistrict litigation is useful when numerous individuals share common grievances against a singular entity. In other words, when a corporation or manufacturer harms numerous patients in similar ways, MDLs are established so that they can share discovery. This also allows them to accelerate the early trial proceedings and avoid duplicate testimony, while preventing conflicting rulings. MDLs differ from class actions in that each case is treated singularly and awards are based on the individual’s injury and complications.
In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, there are presently 21,700 Ethicon lawsuits pending. Plaintiffs in these lawsuits allege that the TVM sling led to serious complications, such as mesh erosion, extrusion, infection, and pain. Some patients have never fully healed from their injuries and some have been left with permanent disabilities.
The first two Ethicon bellwether trials against Ethicon have already been completed and resulted in very different verdicts. In the first bellwether trial, the jury found in favor of the defendant because they determined that the plaintiff did not present sufficient evidence. The second bellwether trial, however, was vastly different. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff and awarded $3.27 million to the injured plaintiff. Due to the different verdicts in the first two Ethicon bellwether trials, all eyes are on this third trial. Until then, however, all plaintiffs that have filed vaginal mesh lawsuits will have to wait and see.
National Defective Medical Device Lawyers
If you have suffered complications as a result of your transvaginal mesh implant, you could have a case against the manufacturer. Call our defective medical device lawyers at Golomb Legalat (215) 278-4449 for a consultation and to learn about your legal options. Our goal is to get you the greatest maximum recovery for your physical and emotional suffering.