Medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard used plastic that was unsuitable for human implantation, yet hid that knowledge from the physicians who performed the implant procedures and the women who received them – so says an attorney representing one of at least 3,600 plaintiffs now suing the company.

The first federal trial among these cases got under way this week in a Charleston West Virginia courtroom, and in opening statements, a lawyer for the plaintiff asserted that Bard executives expressly knew the deficiencies inherent in the Avaulta line of vaginal inserts, but proceeded to market the products anyway. Bloomberg.com has been providing coverage of the trial.

Despite the company’s claims that the plastic used was “a time-tested material” used in a variety of products ranging from sutures to heart devices, injured women across the country assert that had they been properly advised of the risks, they would have opted against the Avaulta implants. The same allegations are being made in hundreds of lawsuits against other vaginal mesh manufacturers including Johnson & Johnson, Endo Health Solutions Inc., and Boston Scientific Corp.

Injuries from these devices can be debilitating, and as we pursue cases on behalf of our own clients, we will continue to monitor this and other trials.

Jason J. Thompson

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Jason J. Thompson

Jason Thompson is a nationally board certified trial attorney and co-chairs Sommers Schwartz’s Complex Litigation Department. He has a formidable breadth of litigation experience, including class action and multidistrict litigation (MDL), and practices nationwide in both state and federal courts.

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