Countless women have needed travsvaginal mesh (TVM) removal surgery following serious and life-threatening complications after having this device implanted to repair pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence.
Boston Scientific is a manufacturer of mesh devices and currently faces more than 10,000 transvaginal mesh cases pertaining to product liability filed by such women.
Currently, U.S. Federal Judge Joseph R. Goodwin is presiding over six federal multidistrict litigations regarding TVM against multiple manufacturers. The first bellwether trial that includes 11 cases against Boston Scientific is set to begin October 14, 2014. An additional 200 suits are being prepared for early trial dates as well, and throughout the rest of the year, case-specific discovery will move forward in a second round of bellwether cases, which are expected to be ready by January 30, 2015.
Judge Goodwin presides over more than 50,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits that have been filed by numerous manufacturers, all of which are centralized in the Southern District of West Virginia. In addition to the cases against Boston Scientific, the court documents also note 17,293 American Medical Systems cases, 17,638 Ethicon lawsuits, 7,783 against Bard Avaulta, 1,325 Coloplast cases, 184 Cook Medical transvaginal mesh Lawsuits and 28 Neomedic Pelvic TVM suits. For many of these, bellwether – or mini – trials have been set to help determine how juries may respond to evidence and testimonies, and the outcomes are designed to facilitate possible settlement agreements.
The first federal transvaginal mesh case started in July 2013 against C.R. Bard, and it resulted in a damage verdict of $2 million, which including $1.5 million in punitive damages to punish the manufacturer for poor design and sale of the device.
Women who’ve undergone mesh removal surgery following complications with the device and want to file a lawsuit should contact a lawyer who specializes in mass tort cases in order to have the best chance having the verdict come out in your favor. If you are interested in finding out if you may be able to file a claim, fill out our free transvaginal mesh case.
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.