According to an agreement revealed last week, the second federal “bellwether” trial centering on a transvaginal mesh (TVM) device manufactured by C.R. Bard, Inc. has settled for an undisclosed sum.
As reported in a prior post, the first bellwether trial resulted in a $2 million verdict against Bard in favor of a woman who claimed that the company failed to warn of TVM product defects that resulted in bleeding, pain, and other injuries. A third bellwether case goes to trial on October 8, and a fourth on November 4.
Bellwether cases are selected from the larger pool of multidistrict litigation (MDL) lawsuits that all involve the same allegations. These matters are the first to proceed to trial first as possible indicators for how other claims in an MDL might resolve themselves. As reported on Law.com, approximately lawsuits have been coordinated in multidistrict litigation against Bard as well as five other transvaginal mesh manufacturers.
In addition to the federally coordinated lawsuits, Bard is also facing its first state court coordinated trial in in New Jersey in September. Last year, in a trial outside of the MDL structure, Bard lost the first TVM case in the country, producing a $5.5 million verdict for a woman and her husband.
Sommers Schwartz attorney Jason Thompson represents approximately 200 women injured by TVM products, including the Ethicon Trans Vaginal Mesh device from Johnson & Johnson. One of his clients was chosen for inclusion among the plaintiffs whose cases have been selected for possible “bellwether” trials involving the Ethicon product.
Click here to learn more about TVM products and the injuries they may cause.
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.
