Women are filing lawsuits against transvaginal mesh manufacturers for their injuries. One case with hundreds of plaintiffs just reached a significant vaginal mesh settlement. According to Bloomberg, Denmark-based Coloplast is one transvaginal mesh makers facing thousands of product liability claims. The Legal Examiner reported the latest case list showed Coloplast faced 1,155 lawsuits in multidistrict litigation. Coloplast settled one mass tort case involving around 400 claims for a large sum in January. These cases are consolidated within a U.S. District Court under Judge Joseph Goodwin. Additionally, Judge Goodwin is overseeing numerous other transvaginal mesh mass tort cases, The Legal Examiner noted.
A Large Vaginal Mesh Settlement
Bloomberg reported Coloplast will pay a $16 million vaginal mesh settlement to resolve about 400 claims. Coloplast officials noted each woman will receive about $40,000. According to The Legal Examiner, Coloplast “declined to seek a blanket settlement of cases over the company’s lawsuits and are settling inventories of cases collected by individual plaintiffs’ lawyers.” Injured plaintiffs sued Coloplast over its Novasilk-Synthetic Flat Mesh System and Aris-Transobturator lines.
Carl Tobias, who teaches product-liability law at the University of Richmond in Virginia, recently emailed Bloomberg. Tobias stated that the Coloplast vaginal mesh settlement signals more case resolutions may be near. “It appears that momentum is building for some type of global resolution as more of these vaginal-mesh cases settle,” Tobias said.
According to PublicHealth Watchdog, the most common Aris-Transobturator Sling System complications include mesh erosion, perforation or puncture of internal organs and vaginal scarring as well as shortening. Other side effects include chronic vaginal drainage or infection, urinary problems and recurring pelvic organ prolapse (POP), which the device often treats.
Coloplast was ordered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to study mesh implant complications, Bloomberg reported.
Other Vaginal Mesh Settlement Payouts May Soon Follow
This is not the biggest vaginal mesh settlement to date. According to Reuters, Endo Pharmaceuticals settled thousands of U.S. lawsuits last year for $54.4 million. The company did not reveal which cases the settlement resolved. Reuters reported Endo’s U.S. unit, American Medical Systems, could face a March 2013 vaginal mesh settlement of at least $160 million.
What You Can Do
If you or a loved one suffered from TVM injuries, you may be eligible for compensation from the manufacturer. Get a free case evaluation and learn more about the vaginal mesh lawsuit to see if you may qualify.
Related: 5 Helpful Questions to Ask Your Injury Lawyer
Lori Polemenakos is Director of Consumer Content and SEO strategist for LeadingResponse, a legal marketing company. An award-winning journalist, writer and editor based in Dallas, Texas, she's produced articles for major brands such as Match.com, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Xfinity, Mail.com, and edited several published books. Since 2016, she's published hundreds of articles about Social Security disability, workers' compensation, veterans' benefits, personal injury, mass tort, auto accident claims, bankruptcy, employment law and other related legal issues.