December 10, 2012 — Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, who is currently presiding over thousands of federal vaginal mesh lawsuits, has tentatively scheduled the first trials against three manufacturers. In the next few months, lawyers will begin selecting which cases will be tried against American Medical Systems (AMS), Ethicon, and Boston Scientific, beginning on December 3, 2013. Currently, five manufacturers are facing nearly 8,000 vaginal mesh lawsuits from women who suffered devastating, long-term complications from the devices.
Judge Goodwin is presiding over a litigation of unprecedented size — five manufacturers, nearly 8,000 lawsuits, and billions of dollars at stake. A federal judicial panel created the first MDL against C.R. Bard in 2010, and the first trials in that litigation are scheduled for early next year. The judicial panel created three MDLs against AMS, Ethicon, and Boston Scientific in February 2012. In August 2012, another MDL was formed against Coloplast.
Lawyers representing plaintiffs and manufacturers will need to submit selection criteria for choosing which cases go to trial within the next three weeks. Then they will begin negotiating which cases are selected for trial. The cases chosen for the first trials are typically selected because they involve injuries or legal matters that are similar to many other cases. Lawyers gauge how a jury responds to evidence, which can help expedite a potential settlement agreement.
Recently, a jury in California awarded a woman and her husband $5.5 million for injuries associated with C.R. Bard’s Avaulta vaginal mesh.
Last week, Judge Goodwin also ordered that Boston Scientific must produce documents regarding the ProteGen vaginal mesh, which was recalled in 1998 for safety problems. Several manufacturers based their designs on the ProteGen, and consequently, thousands of women suffered debilitating injuries.
Serious complications associated with vaginal mesh include erosion into the vagina, organ perforation, bleeding, chronic abdominal pain, inability to have sexual intercourse, infections, multiple revisions surgeries, disfigurement, nerve damage, and incurable injuries that may severely decrease quality of life.
Do I have a Vaginal Mesh Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting vaginal mesh induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by vaginal mesh, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Product Liability & Defective Medical Device Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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