C.R. Bard Agrees to $21 Million Payment to Settle 500 Vaginal Mesh Cases
The medical device maker will reportedly pay out more than $43,000 per transvaginal mesh claim brought against the company.
According to a new report, medical device maker C.R. Bard has agreed to pay $21 million to resolve more than 500 lawsuits filed over the alleged side effects of its controversial transvaginal mesh devices. Despite this settlement agreement, C.R. Bard continues to face close to 10,000 additional claims brought on behalf of women who allege that they suffered painful and debilitating complications from the company’s vaginal mesh implants for pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI). If you received a surgical mesh implant in the past, and you have since suffered serious complications like mesh erosion or infection, contact a reputable surgical mesh lawyer today for legal help.
Potential Side Effects of Transvaginal Mesh
Bard is one of several medical device manufacturing companies facing surgical mesh lawsuits in courts across the country, involving more than 700,000 women who report experiencing problems when their mesh devices eroded through the vagina, causing infections and other complications often requiring surgery to remove the defective mesh. As hundreds of Bard mesh lawsuits approach their trial dates in the federal court system, this new report indicates that C.R. Bard is willing to pay out an average of more than $43,000 per claim to settle the transvaginal mesh lawsuits.
Lawsuits Filed Over Vaginal Mesh Injuries
As mesh lawsuits filed against C.R. Bard continue to mount, 9,745 lawsuits have already been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in the Southern District of West Virginia as part of a federal MDL (multidistrict litigation). Judge Goodwin is also presiding over six other federal MDLs involving transvaginal mesh devices manufactured by other medical device companies, including 13,853 claims against Boston Scientific, 21,429 claims against Ethicon, 18,784 against American Medical Systems (AMS), 1,682 against Coloplast, 255 against Cook Medical and 68 against Neomedic.
Mesh Makers Accused of Failure to Warn
All of the vaginal mesh complaints involve similar allegations that the manufacturing companies designed and sold defective and unreasonably dangerous products, failing to provide consumers and the medical community with adequate warnings about the risk of erosion, infection and migration associated with surgical mesh. Several early trial dates have already been held in courts nationwide, and at least a half-dozen trials have resulted in multi-million dollar awards for plaintiffs, including several cases where juries added punitive damages designed to punish the manufacturing companies.
An Experienced Vaginal Mesh Lawyer Can Help
While Bard has reached some settlement agreements to resolve individual mesh claims as they came up for trial, the reported $21 million settlement intended to resolve 500 cases appears to be the first time Bard has worked with individual attorneys to settle their entire inventory of surgical mesh lawsuits. If you believe you have been adversely affected by side effects of transvaginal mesh, our consumer advocates at the Leading Justice can help. We are dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers harmed by dangerous medical devices, and can help put you in touch with a knowledgeable attorney who has experience handling vaginal mesh claims.
