Second TVM Lawsuit Settled

New York, NYC.R. Bard Inc. has agreed to settle with the plaintiff in the second vaginal mesh lawsuit that was to head to trial over products from its line of Avaulta implants in a federal litigation underway in the Southern District of West Virginia.

The case, which was scheduled to serve as the second of four bellwether trials in that proceeding, involved claims from a North Carolina woman who allegedly suffered permanent vaginal mesh injuries caused by the company’s Avaulta Solo Anterior Synthetic Support System. According to a report from Bloomberg.com, the first bellwether trial ended a week earlier with a $2 million damage award to the plaintiff from a jury in West Virginia who found C.R. Bard liable for the injuries the plaintiff sustained as a result of her Avaulta Plus pelvic mesh device. (In re C.R. Bard Inc. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2187)

According to Bloomberg.com, C.R. Bard is currently facing more than 5,000
transvaginal mesh transvaginal mesh lawsuits, many of which have been filed in the federal proceeding underway in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia. The first bellwether trial in the litigation concluded on August 15th with a jury in West Virginia awarding $2 million to a woman who suffered permanent injury, physical deformity and other serious injuries stemming from the company’s Avaulta Plus device. During the trial, her lawyers argued that C.R. Bard officials were aware that a plastic resin used in products from its line of Avaulta implants was considered unsuitable for permanent implantation in humans by its manufacturer, but produced certain transvaginal mesh devices with it anyway.

The federal litigation involving C.R. Bard mesh products is among several proceedings currently underway in the Southern District of West Virginia, including: In re: American Medical Systems, Inc., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2325; In re: Boston Scientific Corp., Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2326; and In re: Ethicon, Inc. Pelvic Repair Systems Products Liability Litigation - MDL No. 2327.