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Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) for Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

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C.L. Mike Schmidt Published by C.L. Mike Schmidt

Hernia mesh lawsuits are currently being filed by individuals who bought defective hernia mesh products that caused them severe health injuries.

These lawsuits are being grouped in the process of multidistrict litigations to ensure affected individuals get their settlements on time.

Expert attorneys at Schmidt & Law are ready to help victims of defective hernia products file lawsuits and get compensated for damages.

Quick Summary

  • Multidistrict litigation came to reduce the burden of processing numerous TORT cases with similar attributes on the part of court judges.
  • You can expect compensation at least a year after filing a hernia mesh lawsuit, and your case’s seriousness will determine the payment’s extent. 
  • You should provide every detail and information about your injuries for proper investigation and to increase your chances of getting compensated in the hernia mesh lawsuit.

What Are MDLs?

Lawyers book and pen on a tableMDLs are legal proceedings that involve consolidating multiple cases with similar demands from different districts into one to be handled by a federal court.

Judges do this to enhance overall efficiency and reduce the backlogs of these cases in all available district courts.

This action also favors the plaintiffs, who get appropriate verdicts within a reasonable time.

It is important to note that before multidistrict litigation is enforced, a judiciary panel will be set up to determine the cases with one or more similarities.

This panel consists of judges and court officials from various districts who will determine the best cases and the court to handle them.

Understanding MDLs vs Class Actions

MDLs and class actions are similar in that they represent a group of lawsuits with common attributes where the plaintiffs seek justice for the harm done to them by the defendants and a single district court will be assigned to handle them.

While this is the case for both of these legal actions, there are some differences.

Hernia mesh litigation represents all the cases with similar features filed by different plaintiffs, provided that they can find strong evidence to back up their lawsuit.

On the other hand, class action lawsuits represent a group of cases where only a few plaintiffs stand in for a larger group.

This larger group of individuals is known as the class, and the plaintiffs representing them are called the class representatives or lead plaintiffs.

Another significant difference is that class actions tend to last for as long as the lawsuit. In contrast, multidistrict litigation only lasts during the pretrial proceedings, after which the cases are sent back to their respective district courts if no compensation agreements are reached.

Plaintiffs in class actions need to be verified as such by one judge before the next step is taken, and they are also not mandated to see the entirety of the class action since they can opt out at any time. On the other hand, Multidistrict litigation is a must for plaintiffs with similar lawsuits.

Bard MDL Litigation

Lawyer books on a tableThe Bard hernia mesh multidistrict litigation is one of the product liability lawsuits filed against C.R. Bard, a company that manufactures hernia repair mesh products and medical technologies, and Davol, one of its subsidiaries.

The first Bard hernia mesh MDL lawsuit was filed in Rhode Island, where $184 million was given to around 3500 plaintiffs after court proceedings were concluded.

A new lawsuit was filed in 2018 with claims that Bard sold defective polypropylene hernia mesh products, including ventralex, composix, perfix, and sepramesh, among others.

The plaintiffs also stated that Bard’s hernia mesh implants caused them several injuries, such as chronic inflammation, nerve damage, bowel perforation, and mesh adhesion.

Currently, U.S. District Judge, Edmund Sargus, responsible for close to 17,000 Bard cases, has appointed John Jackson as an intermediary between the plaintiffs and Bard to reach an agreement that will be reasonable to both parties [1].

If, after much deliberation, no agreement is reached, the lawsuits will be transferred in 2023 to a federal district court.

Related Article: Bard Composix Complications Suit

Atrium MDL Litigation

The Atrium MDL litigation is a unification of lawsuits filed against Atrium Medical Corp. for their flawed
Atrium C-Qur hernia mesh implant, which caused severe pain and infections among users.

Atrium Medical Corp. is a healthcare company that researches, develops, designs, and manufactures several medical device technologies.

In court, plaintiffs with lawsuits against Atrium have requested compensation for damages such as medical expenses, physical pain, emotional trauma, and wage loss, among others.

The latest update regarding the Atrium litigation was back in March 2021, when two cases were selected for bellwether trials.

However, the trials never came to light since Atrium decided to discuss compensation amounts with the plaintiffs, who had around 2500 pending cases against them.

Related Article: Atrium ProLite and ProLoop Hernia Mesh Lawsuits

Ethicon MDL Litigation

Lawyer items on a tableThe Ethicon MDL litigation is a consolidation of lawsuits filed by several individuals who were victims of Ethicon Inc.’s, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, defective physio mesh-designed implants.

These victims sustained injuries that include sepsis, bowel obstruction, infection, and much more, caused by Ethicon’s failure to warn doctors about the possible risks involved in using these products on individuals.

The Ethicon MDL is said to have over 2000 hernia mesh MDLs, with Richard W. Story, a United States Judge, serving as the senior judge for these cases.

There has been a call by Ethicon to achieve a global settlement for each of these cases. However, it is expected that more cases will still be filed, particularly by individuals who have yet to experience the adverse effects of Ethicon’s defective hernia mesh products.

What Is the Concept of the Bellwether Trial?

The bellwether trial is a legal procedure involving a small sample of cases out of a larger group of multi-district lawsuits to ascertain the settlement claims the plaintiffs can expect to receive for their case.

A bellwether trial aims to efficiently reach a conclusive decision with proper time management because it is simply impossible to take every case to trial.

Bellwether trials are mainly used in mass TORT lawsuits such as those of Bard, Atrium, and Ethicon, where they all suffered from the same case of defective products.

The cases used for bellwether trials are usually handpicked by both the plaintiffs and the defendants, with more attention given to the highly favorable ones.

After this is done, the presiding judge from the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation will pick a case for neutrality and give a fair decision to both parties.

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Have you or a loved one suffered severe pain or injury from a defective medical device?

Money for Your Injuries

Money on a tableThe primary aim of most individuals who file hernia mesh lawsuits is to seek a certain compensatory amount for the damages they have incurred.

Usually, the settlement amount covers damages, including medical expenses, physical and emotional pain, wage loss, etc.

If the plaintiff prevails in court, the United States district judge may order the defendant to pay punitive damages, which are frequently greater than compensatory damages.

The purpose of this is to teach a lesson to other companies and organizations that do not take great care in assessing the quality of their products before making them available to the public and to reduce the chances of such accidents occurring.

What You Need to Know Before Filing a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit

You need to know several things before you fail a hernia mesh patch lawsuit to increase your chances of winning the lawsuit in court.

Verify Your Eligibility

Before filing a lawsuit, you need to be sure that you are eligible to do so.

To confirm your eligibility, you have to be certain that a defective medical device was used for your hernia surgery; you got injured from the device, and you sustained damages due to the injuries.

In some cases, you might also need to provide evidence that you were neglected and weren’t shown care by the doctors who performed the surgery that led to your injuries.

You Need to Confirm That You Are Within the Statute of Limitations

Person signing on a pageFiling a hernia mesh lawsuit against a hernia mesh manufacturer usually comes with specific time limits, so it is important to know how much time you have to file a lawsuit.

In some cases, the duration given might be two years, starting from the time the surgery was performed or the time the injury occurred, while in others, the duration might be five years or more.

Once the time for filing elapses, you won’t be able to file any case to seek compensation for damages, as the federal courts will stop receiving such cases.

Related Article: Statute of Limitations for Hernia Mesh

You Need to Know All Relevant Information About the Defective Product

You must have all the necessary information about the defective mesh product used for your hernia surgery.

Information such as the product’s manufacturer and the surgery’s date are some of the things you need to know to aid an investigation and strengthen your case in court.

You Should Know the Duration of the Settlement

Books for researchYou need to understand that filing a settlement claim does not in any way mean that you will get compensated almost immediately.

These things take time, so you will need to be patient and stay optimistic about your chances of winning the case.

Hiring a highly experienced attorney’s services is another way to strengthen your chances of winning the case and getting the compensation you deserve, no matter how long it takes.

Average Settlement Amounts

Several legal experts have estimated the average hernia mesh settlement amounts to be around $70,000 to $90,000. However, these figures could be much higher in more serious cases.

Keep in mind that these estimates are based on past hernia mesh cases that were settled and are mere speculations, as, in reality, yours could be higher or lower depending on the severity of your case.

“Long-term ventral hernia repair failure rates are up to 32% using conventional mesh and 63% with suture repair only, creating a multibillion-dollar clinical cost to the US healthcare system.”
Bill Perry, CEO of Deep Blue Medical Advances

See all related medical device lawsuits our attorneys have covered.

FAQs

Who Is the Judge Presiding Over the Atrium Hernia Mesh MDL?

The judge presiding over the Atrium hernia mesh MDL is Landya B. McCafferty. She is the chief judge of the district court of New Hampshire, and ex-President Obama nominated her to the federal court system on May 23, 2013.

How Many Years Does a Hernia Mesh Repair Last?

A hernia mesh repair lasts up to five years, as confirmed by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). However, a hernia mesh repair lifespan could be more or less dependent on the nature of the material used and other medical factors.

How Long Does It Take To Settle a Hernia Mesh Lawsuit?

It takes about one to three years to settle a hernia mesh lawsuit, depending on the nature of the multidistrict litigation and how long it might take the United States judicial panel to decide.  

How Do I Qualify for a Hernia Mesh Settlement?

You qualify for a hernia mesh settlement if you suffered from serious hernia complications and require surgery or if a family member died because of injuries caused by defective hernia mesh products.

Is the Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Still Going On?

Yes, the hernia mesh lawsuit is still going on, with over 25,000 lawsuits still awaiting final court decisions in 2022 alone.

Get Your Free Lawsuit Evaluation Today

If you have had hernia surgery and sustained injuries resulting from defective hernia products used, contact us at Schmidt & Clark, LLP immediately via our telephone line at (866) 588-0600 to get a free case evaluation.

Our team of experienced lawyers will help you file a hernia mesh lawsuit on time, so you can get the justice you deserve.

We will need you to help us by providing medical records and all relevant information concerning the flawed products used and the type of injuries you sustained, as this will help us ensure you get fully compensated for damages.


References:

  1. https://medtruth.com/articles/legal-developments/settlement-master-appointed-for-bard-hernia-mesh-lawsuits/

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